Senator Panfilo Lacson on May 10, 2021. Photo by Noy Morcoso
MANILA, Philippines — Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. will “definitely” be relieved from his position as spokesperson of the government’s anti-insurgency task force before he retires.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the upper chamber’s defense committee, said Monday that this was the assurance given to him by National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Eclac) vice-chairman Hermogenes Esperon Jr. in one of their text conversations.
But Lacson maintained that Parlade, who has been embroiled in red-tagging controversies, should be immediately removed from the task force because for him to continue staying as its spokesperson is unconstitutional.
“Ewan ko bakit ayaw nilang tanggalin si Parlade roon…Sabi niya (Esperon) ‘we will definitely relieve him, at most, before he retires.’ Parlade is retiring on July 26,” Lacson said during an INQside Look interview.
(I don’t know why they won’t remove Parlade there…He (Esperson) said ‘we will definitely relieve him, at most, before he retires.’ Parlade is retiring on July 26.)
The lawmaker added that he even suggested to Esperon that they should just relieve Parlade now and hire him again once he retires if they insist on retaining the military official in the task force.
“Ang suggestion ko sa kanya (Esperon) [My suggestion to him], if you really need him there, ayaw niyong tanggalin [if you won’t remove him], relieve him there and rehire him after his retirement because by then he would not be disqualified under the Constitution,” Lacson said.
Change of heart?
According to Lacson, he earlier got a commitment from Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that they will “ease out” Parlade from the task force.
“Last week or more than a week ago, no less than Sec. Lorenzana assured me that he already conferred with Sec. Jun Esperon that they will ease out Parlade,” he said.
“Pero mukhang [But looks like] recently, only last night, I had text exchanges with Sec. Esperon, mukhang merong [there seems to be a] change of heart. Na meron silang sinasabi ‘may paraan na gagawin’ [They were saying they have a way to do it]. Sabi ko [But I said] ’the bottomline is relieve him because it’s unconstitutional’,” he added.
“There’s no other logical explanation bakit [why] he should stay in his designation,” Lacson further said.
In March, the Senate already recommended Parlade’s immediate removal from his position as NTF-Elcac’s spokesperson, noting a provision of the 1987 Constitution stating that “[n]o member of the armed forces in the active service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations or any of their subsidiaries.”
Lacson said Esperon tried to argue that Parlade may not be covered by this provision, citing as an example the chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), who are members of the NTF-Elcac.
But the senator pointed out that the heads of the AFP and the PNP are in the task force “by virtue of their positions” while Parlade was designated.
“Si Parlade individual capacity ‘yung pagiging spokesperson niya [Parlade was designated as spokesperson in an individual capacity]. You cannot equate or you cannot cite the (AFP) chief of staff or the chief PNP,” he added.
Lacson earlier warned NTF-Elcac that its decision to keep Parlade as its spokesperson “will cost them.”
As chairman of the Senate defense panel, Lacson defends the budget of the Department of National Defense and its attached agencies.