Pangilinan wants Parlade fired after remarks vs INQUIRER.net reporter
MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan has called for the relief of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for his recent remarks against an INQUIRER.net reporter.
Pangilinan said on Thursday Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzna must also “show Parlade the door” after the latter’s tirades against reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas, over her story on Aetas who supposedly endured torture from the military, and who filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC).
According to the senator, Parlade must suffer the same fate as AFP deputy chief of staff for intelligence Maj. Gen. Alex Luna, who was relieved after blunders on list of supposed former University of the Philippines (UP) students who joined the communist armed movement.
“Enough of this unprofessionalism and lack of discipline with such baseless, erroneous public statements. Like AFP Intel Chief Luna, Lorenzana should show Parlade the door,” Pangilinan said in a tweet.
Enough of this unprofessionalism and lack of discipline with such baseless, erroneous public statements. Like AFP Intel Chief Luna, Lorenzana should show Parlade the door. pic.twitter.com/TF0JraoJ5s
— Kiko Pangilinan (@kikopangilinan) February 4, 2021
Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson called Parlade’s comments against Torres-Tupas as careless and unnecessary, as he believes such actions would affect how people and the court perceives the Anti-Terrorism Act — as the oral arguments regarding the controversial law is being heard by the Supreme Court.
Parlade’s remarks against the reporter stemmed from her story, entitled “Tortured Aetas seek SC help against anti-terror law”, wherein the petition of the Aetas against the Anti-Terrorism Act was discussed. The Aetas are arguing that the said law should be declared unconstitutional.
According to Parlade, reports of Aetas being tortured were misleading as he claims that it never occurred. But groups like the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines have pointed out that Torres-Tupas was only writing about the petition.
The military official then labeled her a propagandist of the Communist Party of the Philippines. He then implied that charges could be filed against the reporter for “aiding the terrorists by spreading lies.”
Other media groups and organizations have called out Parlade for the remarks, with Torres-Tupas’ co-members from the Justice and Court Reporters Association (JUCRA) stressing that most of their members also wrote the same story — giving an implication that the whole beat should be implicated.
“Parlade did not only red-tag Tupas, he also threatened her with prosecution just because he did her job, which all of us in JUCRA do every day. JUCRA members also reported the Aetas’ petition for intervention, based on the same Supreme Court pleading Should we all await for a threat from Parlade too?” the statement read.
“Is the general suggesting that justice reporters are supporters of terrorists? […] Parlade’s cluelessness notwithstanding, we demand the general to apologize to Tupas,” it added.
