Tension erupted on Wednesday during a forum organized by the Movement Against Tyranny and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) when Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations, was asked to leave.
“This is not the forum for him to spread lies. It would be hard for us to speak with him around,” said former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, one of the forum organizers.
The forum was meant to highlight the abuses and attacks directed at critics of the administration.
Most of the forum participants believe that Parlade was behind the series of cases filed against activist groups, including the issuance of search warrants for their offices and homes.
Taguiwalo also noted that a judge in Ilocos was shot dead this month just days after Parlade had asked the Supreme Court to probe judges who had been dismissing cases against activists.
Tagudin, Ilocos Sur Judge Mario Anacleto Bañez, who was killed by unidentified gunmen on Nov. 5, had acquitted a Cordillera health worker who the military described as a communist rebel.
During the forum’s question and answer segment, Parlade raised his hand to ask a question and was recognized by the moderator. But when he stood up to speak, Carol Araullo of Bayan intervened and firmly asked him to leave.
In a statement on Twitter, Parlade slammed the forum as “a politically charged activity,” and said that the government was not against dissenters.
“We are promoting democratic processes and we don’t want the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) to destroy it.”
Edre Olalia of the NUPL, one of the speakers in the forum, said Parlade only wanted “to intimidate, harass and harangue the crowd by rehashing his Red-tagging spiels.”