MANILA, Philippines — A Bayan Muna party-list representative has filed before the Office of the Ombudsman a complaint against Southern Luzon Command chief Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr. over his alleged red-tagging and partisan political activity.
Rep. Carlos Zarate has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend Parlade, pending investigation and charge him for violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 55 (Political Activity), Chapter 7, Subtitle A, Title 1 of the Administrative Code of 1987.
He also asked the Ombudsman to order the military general’s dismissal from public office should they find evidence that he committed grave misconduct.
The lawmaker cited news reports of Parlade’s pronouncements during the 2019 election period showing how the high-ranking officer red-tagged him and his party.
Parlade supposedly labeled the rest of Makabayan party-lists as “communist fronts,” “rebels,” and “terrorists.”
“By Respondent’s (Parlade) public pronouncements, he has shown to have acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith and inexcusable negligence. By his public pronouncements, he definitely caused my person and Bayan Muna undue injury during the campaign and election period,” Zarate’s complaint read.
“By labelling me and the rest of the Makabayan Party-Lists as ‘communist fronts’ and vilifying us as ‘rebels’ and ‘terrorists,’ Respondent Parlade endangers and threatens the lives and safety our our officials, members, campaign personnel, and the sectors we represent,” it added.
Parlade’s public pronouncements constitute political activity which members of the military are prohibited from engaging in, the Bayan Muna party-list representative said.
The Makabayan bloc, including Zarate, earlier filed a complaint against Parlade for election offenses.