Army officer behind doctored 'communist rebels' photo relieved from post
DOCTORED PHOTO. A Philippine Army officer has been relieved from duty for manipulating this official photo release of supposed communist rebels surrendering to the government. Photo from the Philippine Army
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Army officer responsible for the doctored photo of supposed communist rebel surrenderers that went viral in late December has been relieved from his post.
Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon Pabon, commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division (9ID), “admitted the mistake and took responsibility for the outcome of the photo manipulation” during a probe by the Army’s Inspector General, said Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala in a statement on Friday, January 10.
Pabon stepped down on Tuesday, January 7, Zagala said.
The Army drew harsh criticism after people on social media noticed that a photo of a group of supposed communist guerrillas and supporters surrendering to authorities appeared to have been manipulated.
The photo came with a press release from the 9ID announcing the surrender of 306 members of the New People’s Army and its affiliate militias in Masbate on December 26.
The 9ID, based in Pili, Camarines Sur, has charge over the Bicol region.
The image showed a row of people standing by a table full of weapons – guerrillas who supposedly turned in their firearms as they availed of the government’s program to reintegrate former rebels into society. However, the row of supposed surrenderers was rather crudely cropped from another photo and then superimposed on the image of a hall with the table of weapons.
The Army leadership admitted the “mistake,” apologized, and ordered an investigation. The Armed Forces of the Philippines top brass and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also called for a probe and vowed accountability.
“We hold our personnel with high esteem in all our dealings especially in our releases to the media and the public. We constantly train and remind them of our policies so that everyone is knowledgeable in the proper release of information, and we take this incident as a valuable experience that will enable us to better perform our mission,” Zagala said on Friday.
The Army is reviewing its policies to prevent a repeat of the incident, Zagala added. – Rappler.com
