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Major General Benedict Arevalo, the deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), went on “leave of absence” after his office published the erroneous list that named alleged communist rebels.

“In the light of these developments, I will go on leave of absence so as not to influence the ongoing investigation,” Arevalo said in a statement released to reporters midnight Friday, January 29.

The Civil-Military Operations Office (J7) handles the AFP Exchange Facebook page, which released the erroneous list.

On Thursday, January 28, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana fired the military’s intelligence chief Major General Alex Luna over the same list, calling the gaffe “unpardonable.”

Why does this matter

Arevalo joins Luna as the highest military official to leave his post over red-tagging – a practice that the military has been accused of for years.

Under the Duterte administration, red-tagging found its place in the government’s crackdown on dissent, which has targeted not just activists and students but also political adversaries, media personnel, and lawyers.

“I personally take responsibility [for] their (staffers’) actions. This is the reason why I issued a public apology and reiterated it in my succeeding interviews,” Arevalo said. – Rappler.com