Misamis Oriental gov sad over issue on NDF consultant coddling

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 8): Misamis Oriental gov sad over issue on NDF consultant coddling

Misamis Oriental governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano on Wednesday was saddened by an insinuation that he was hiding one of the consultants of the National Democratic Front (NDF) who was an object of military manhunt.

"A senior military official called the provincial governor's office the other day, asking the provincial governor to physically turnover NDF consultant Alfredo Mapano, a.k.a "Paris," Emano said.

Emano said while he believed that the military official was kidding, the joke was improper, which could only be initated by an official who was politically instigated to dare question the integrity of the Office of the Provincial Governor.

"Why would a government official coddle someone in the list of the military's order of battle? How would the provincial governor know the whereabout of the NDF consultants who were believed to be in Italy," Emano asked.

Emano admitted that Mapano, who was incarcerated in the provincial jail for more than seven years, visited the provincial governor's office when he was temporarily released in August last year as one of the NDF consultants at the start of the government-NDF peace negotiation in Oslo, Norway.

He said Mapano's visit was a normal daily occurrence in the provincial governor's office because the governor's office is a public trust that guarantees the right of every citizen in this country to pay a visit, especially if a duly elected public official is around.

He said he has nothing against the action of the military official, although he has the suspicion that the action was dictated by the political adversaries who were out to destroy "my reputation and good relationship with the military."

On the contrary, Emano urged the military to run after politicians who face a string of graft cases in court in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's nationwide drive to rid the government of corrupt public officials.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=962042