New AFP spokesman, fascist coverup expert--CPP

From the CPP Website (May 7): New AFP spokesman, fascist coverup expert--CPP

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today chided the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for appointing as its new spokesman a fascist henchman and expert at covering up AFP human rights violation.

Outgoing head of the AFP Human Rights Office (HRO), Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan is being appointed as new AFP spokesman “to lend his expertise at lies and coverups to boost the AFP psywar campaign of obscuring the worsening violations of human rights and humanitarian law being committed by the fascist soldiers in the course of the Oplan Bayanihan war of suppression.”

“As AFP HRO head, Tutaan served only to window-dress the AFP with his rhetoric and publicity gimmicks without any substantial change in the AFP’s conduct of its war against the people,” added the CPP. “Over the past three years under the Aquino regime, not a single officer of the AFP responsible for numerous crimes and violations of human rights has been prosecuted or punished.”

The CPP pointed out Gen. Jovito Palparan, who was charged for the kidnapping, illegal detention and torture of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan and peasant activist Manuel Merino remain at large. Palparan is believed to be under the protection of the AFP.

Before being appointed by Aquino as chief of the AFP Human Rights Office, Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan headed the 1003rd brigade under the brutal 10th ID and left a trail of blood in its operations in North Cotabato, Davao del Sur and Davao City.

The 1003rd brigade is responsible for the forcible recruitment and arming of Lumad under the so-called Alamara and Alsa Lumad to foment divisions and employ these to attack both Lumads and non-Lumad who are active in the democratic mass movement. These paramilitary groups were patterned after the notorious Alsa Masa group organized by the AFP in the late 1980s. “Gen. Tutaan served only to cover up their numerous crimes against the peasant masses.”

“Tutaan served as the psywar expert leading the AFP’s publicity gimmicks portraying the military as providing social services, thus supplanting local civilian agencies in an effort to cover up the AFP’s brutalities and sordid human rights record,” pointed out the CPP.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130506_new-afp-spokesman-fascist-coverup-expert-cpp