Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. of the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)/(Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Instead of defunding the administration’s anti-insurgency task force, Senate President Vicente Sotto III wants “irresponsible” officials of the agency replaced as another senator called Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. a “liability” in the government’s efforts against insurgency.
“I believe the NTF-Elcac (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) program is good. Defunding it would give back the gains of [government] to the rebels,” Sotto said in a message to reporters.
“We should not be hasty in blaming a good program because of irresponsible statements from some officials. Replace the officials instead,” he added but did not mention any names.
Sotto’s statement comes after two senators sought the defunding of the NTF-Elcac due to recent remarks made by Parlade, the task force’s spokesperson, against the organizer of the Maginhawa Community Pantry.
“Isang tao lang ‘yan ‘di ba? Si Ana, si Patricia ‘di ba? Same with Satan. Si Satan binigyan ng apple si Eve, doon lang nagsimula ‘yon,” Parlade said in an interview over One News’ The Chiefs last Tuesday.
‘Liability’
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson pointed to a recent committee report on the chamber’s red-tagging probe, seeking Parlade’s immediate relief as a spokesperson of the NTF-Elcac.
“Not only because his civilian position is violative of the Constitution; he has in fact, on many occasions, become a ‘liability’ to the overall efforts of the government as well as the government’s position on the pending 37 petitions against the [Anti-Terrorism Act] of 2020 before the [Supreme Couty] mainly due to his careless remarks and flawed interpretation of certain provisions of the law,” Lacson told INQUIRER.net in a message.
The senator lamented that the Department of National Defense (DND) snubbed the recommendation under the report, which was adopted by the Senate.
“Unfortunately, the defense department has openly ignored the Senate in that regard. This year, I am not sure if I will defend their budget with the same tenacity as I did the previous years,” he said.
“Working together, I believe, should be a two-way street, if we want to make it work,” he added.
As chairperson of the Senate defense committee, Lacson is tasked to defend the budget of the DND and its attached agencies.