Army Lt. Col. Harold 鈥淗arry鈥� M. Cabunoc (Inf) PA. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines鈥揊or the first time in the history of the public affairs office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), its chief has been relieved after feuding with netizens critical of the military.
Army Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc served a mere two months as the chief of the AFP public affairs office.
Cabunoc, a battle-tested Army Ranger, was probably one of the most active officers on social media, even maintaining a blog that he has been updating regularly.
As of Wednesday, there had yet to be an official announcement on Cabunoc鈥檚 relief but newly designated AFP spokesperson, Colonel Restituto Padilla, has recently been approving the release of press statements from the military headquarters.
Padilla was a long-time spokesperson for the Air Force.
In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer last week, Padilla would not confirm if Cabunoc鈥檚 relief was a result of his fights with netizens, which began in late October after the family of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude forced themselves into a secured compound of the AFP headquarters to see for themselves the suspect, US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton.
鈥淩egarding the involvement of some of our members, this could be borne by their sense of responsibility to defend the institution. When they see (negative) comments, that sense of obligation kicks in and they feel they need to defend their unit or organization,鈥� Padilla said.
Cabunoc鈥檚 relief came as a surprise, especially after a few weeks ago, he just had recommended to AFP Chief of Staff Gregorio Pio Catapang an investigation into the memes that were circulating in social media, which he said 鈥渕ocked鈥� him and Catapang himself.
Catapang approved the recommendation. The memo, called a 鈥渄isposition form,鈥� showed an instruction by Catapang鈥檚 head executive assistance referring the matter to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp).
Cabunoc suspected that the memes making fun of him and Catapang were made by military personnel using assumed names on Facebook and Twitter.
The memo was leaked to the netizens who also posted it on their Facebook pages, one of whom was specifically identified by Cabunoc in his recommendation.
Netizens perceived the AFP as siding with Pemberton, especially after Catapang himself awarded the soldier who was pushed by Laude鈥檚 fianc茅, Marc Suesselbeck, for exercising maximum tolerance.
In his Twitter wars, Cabunoc told one netizen that talking to him was an 鈥渆pic fail鈥� because the latter was joining the discussion without reading the whole thread of the conversation.
But Cabunoc was particularly suspicious of one netizen named 鈥淐assandra Pod鈥� whom he suspected of being behind an alleged campaign to have him removed from the public affairs office.
鈥淐assandra POD鈥� told the Inquirer in a message over the weekend that Cabunoc鈥檚 travails with netizens began when he 鈥渁ttacked netizens for simply asking questions and disagreeing with him on the issue of Suesselbeck and Laude鈥檚 sister.鈥�
鈥淚f he didn鈥檛 agree with other netizens, he can raise his point nicely without name-calling or ignore it all together. He should have realized that everything he says or writes will be taken against the AFP, which he is assigned to represent but he screwed up in many ways,鈥� she said.
鈥淐assandra POD鈥� has been an anonymous account until the AFP investigation recommended by Cabunoc.
On Monday, she revealed her identity to assure the military that she was not one of its officers, although she comes from a military family. She also apologized to Cabunoc for her harsh criticisms of him. On Wednesday, however, Cassandra鈥檚 Facebook account cannot be accessed.
Padilla assured the public that any investigation by the AFP would not cover civilians.
He said the military personnel who could be behind the memes against Catapang and Cabunoc were expected to follow the social media regulations released by the AFP in 2013.
Padilla said Cabunoc鈥檚 leaked memo 鈥渕ay need to be looked into because there could have been some breach in protocol.鈥�
鈥淚t behooves the organization to look into it,鈥� Padilla said, even if it was not a confidential document.
RELATED STORIES
听
听