DND, NTF-ELCAC rejects ‘political prisoner’ tag on Rowe’s killer

THE Department of National Defense (DND) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) both came out strongly against the description of the mainstream media of the convicted killer of US Army Colonel James Rowe in 1989 as a “political prisoner.”

“Wrongfully branding Juanito Itaas as a ‘political prisoner’ rather than a criminal as done in recent reports by some media outlets is a misrepresentation of the court’s ruling that convicted him of the murder of US Colonel James Rowe in 1989,” said DND undersecretary, Reynadlo Mapagu, in a statement released today, January 11, 2022.

Mapagu, also a former commander of the Philippine Army and current chair of the government’s ‘Task Force Balik-Loob (TFBL), was referring to mainstream media’s report on the release of Itaas last January 7, 2022, on order of the Muntilupa Regional Trial Court.

Itaas has been tagged as a “principal” (gunman) in the killing of Rowe in Quezon City last April 21, 1989. At the time of his murder, Rowe was the United States’ main intelligence liaison with the Philippine military thru the ‘JUSMAG’ (Joint RP-US Military Advisory Group). He was arrested in Davao City months after Rowe was killed, on August 27, 1989.

Itaas has been identified as a member of the urban hit squad (SPARU) of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which are both classified as ‘terrorist organizations’ here and abroad.

Despite reservation over Itaas’ release, Mapagu said this is “evidence that our courts and judicial system are functioning in accordance with the Philippine Constitution.”

NTF-ELCAC spokesperson and Presidential Communications undersecretary, Lorraine Marie Badoy, in a separate statement, said mainstream media’s assertion of Itaas as a ‘political prisoner’ reflects “the sorry state of journalism in our country.”

“(T)hose tasked to deliver the truth to our people have themselves become party to the grand deception foisted and perpetuated on the Filipino people by this terrorist organization whose weapons are words,” Badoy lamented, adding:

“(Mainstream) media repeats the propaganda lines of the CPP NPA NDF that they have used for over 5 decades to cause grievous harm on our people.

“Where we endeavor to take off those masks, these media outlets strap back on those masks and make heroes out of these scoundrels.”

NTF-ELCAC spokesperson for Mass Media Engagements and Fact-Checker Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco, a journalist for nearly three decades and who was also once a member of the communist terrorist movement, cautioned mediamen not to brand Itaas as a “political prisoner.” Egco pointed out that Itaas was convicted for murder after trial by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court and the conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court on August 25, 2000.

“Itaas ambushed and killed US Army Col. Rowe for his assistance to government’s effort to contain the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs). Itaas is neither a political activist, nor part of any legitimate political party but a cold-blooded killer,” Egco stressed.

The Legal Cluster of the NTF-ELCAC also took exception to the description of Rowe’s assassin as a ‘political prisoner.’

“Itaas’ sudden early release created a flurry of news articles (by the mainstream media) erroneously claiming that he was the longest held ‘political prisoner’ despite being a convicted murderer as affirmed by the Supreme Court,” the cluster said in a separate statement.

“To call a convicted murderer a mere ‘political prisoner’ is to de-odorize the gravity and the absolute wickedness and perversity involved in the murder and killing of a human being, cheapens the evilness and depravity of communist terrorism, and is an insult to the public as well as the victim’s family and friends who were permanently and unjustly deprived of their loved one,” the statement added.

It can be recalled that the first official to vehemently react to the branding of Itaas as an ‘activist’ and ‘longest held political prisoner’ in the country by mainstream media is National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) director general, Alex Paul Monteagudo.

In a statement last January 9, 2022, Monteagudo also stressed that “there are no political prisoner” in the country, while lamenting mainstream media’s distortion of the facts of Itaas’ case (see also Pinoy Exposé article last January 9, 2022).