A government prosecutor slammed the West Visayas State University (WVSU) Student Council for its attack against the appointment of First Lady (FL) Louise Araneta-Marcos as a faculty member of the WVSU College of Law.
“The statement allegedly issued by the WVSU Student Council is irresponsible, malicious, and maligns the reputation of the First Lady,” said Iloilo Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales on Sunday, reacting to allegations that the presence of a Marcos in the university will not be a good example to students considering that allegedly a Marcos is the number one violator of the law.
The WVSC Student Council last week claimed Marcos intends to widen their platform for a disinformation campaign.
“These statements are definitely malicious, irresponsible, and are simply parroting the anti-Marcos propaganda lines being peddled by anti-government groups and by the political opponents of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” he said.
Gonzales, who is also spokesperson of the Regional Task Force 6 to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, said the baseless claims of the WVSU Student Council do not embody the sentiments of the entire student body nor those of the entire student sector in Western Visayas.
Araneta-Marcos, he said, is a respected lawyer, an experienced professor of law, a mother, a wife, a friend, and an Ilonggo at heart whose father, Manuel Araneta, Jr. is from Jaro, Iloilo City.
No iota of proof
“We will not allow some misinformed students to malign and tarnish the name of our First Lady,” Gonzales said. “The malicious statement does not contain an iota of proof to sustain the allegations of the commission of any crime by Atty Louise Araneta-Marcos.”
He said it is presumptuous, if not downright disrespectful, for the alleged law students who purportedly signed the statement to pass judgment upon the integrity and reputation of the First Lady based on sweeping baseless generalizations.
“This kind of behavior does not speak well of you. Do not allow yourselves to be used by any third-party group to further their propaganda efforts against the government. You are in law school to become lawyers later on,” he added.
He said good lawyers must be able to think for themselves and arrive at decent and logical conclusions based on facts, law, and empirical data, and should not be swayed by mere words peddled by propagandists whose sole intent is to mislead, confuse, agitate, and radicalize.
“As future lawyers, you can do better than to allow yourselves to be used, exploited, and radicalized by groups whose platform rests on agitation, discontent, and ‘revolution,’” he said.
Gonzales assured the First Lady that the peace-loving people of Western Visayas welcome her as she takes on the task of being a faculty member of the WVSU College of Law.
WVSU President Joselito Villaruz on 5 August confirmed the First Lady is joining the WVSU College of Law Faculty after undergoing a selection process through existing university guidelines.