Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro vows that “heads will roll” at the Armed Forces if any has been found guilty in conducting spy training exercises on civilians like National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera. Teodoro, who is also the standard-bearer of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD in the 2010 presidential elections, ordered an investigation and said that the act is not acceptable since civilians should not be the “subject of training exercises.” He also added that it was the first time since he was appointed as defense secretary that spying activities were admitted by the military establishment.
“I really don’t know [why they spied on Lumbera’s house],” Teodoro said. He said Gen. Victor Ibrado, the AFP chief of staff, was conducting the investigation. Meanwhile, AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr said that Ibrado has delegated the inquiry to the Navy.
Navy spokesperson Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo asked for an apology for the inconvenience caused who was purportedly sent to the address of Lumbrera as part of his training under the Naval Enlisted Personnel Intelligence Course. He said that the assignment of Guerrero was part of “information verification” based on the scenario that the house was being frequented by communist leaders and Lumbrera was not the target.
Guerrero together with his two companions were seen taking pictures of the national artist’s house. Guerrero was apprehended by security guards of the subdivision and he was turned over to the police and later on released without charges.
Arevalo’s apology was accepted by Lumbrera but he was not entirely buying the story. The writer, educator and activist said he was also considering filing a case with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to question Guerrero’s spying.
“Apology accepted. But I don’t necessarily believe all the details they say,” he said. He added that it was “incredible that a trained soldier would make a mistake,” which is in reference to Guerrero’s getting caught.
“That was what created the inconvenience they apologized for,” said Lumbera, whose house serves as the headquarters of the ACT Teachers party-list group.
“I plan to go to the CHR to file a protest. As to when, that depends on the decision of ACT,” he said.
