Lucy Torres-Gomez: Parlade should be held accountable for red-tagging
Leyte 4th District Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez. Contributed Photo (FILE)
MANILA, Philippines – National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) spokesperson Antonio Parlade Jr. should be held accountable for the red-tagging issues that the government official has recently been linked to, Leyte 4th District Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez said Tuesday.
Torres-Gomez, who has actively defended the NTF-Elcac, said that red-tagging is “very damaging to a person’s reputation, and even if later on it is proved wrong, the damage is already done.”
“He needs to be made accountable for his errant actions– by this, I refer to publicly accusing regular citizens of supporting terrorists, without any proof,” Torres-Gomez
told INQUIRER.net in a text message.
“I understand that it is the the job of the NTF-Elcac to be suspicious, and the question is–do they have to do this in the public arena?” she added.
Further, Torres-Gomez said that Parlade’s “public accusations” are not condoned in the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) which critics claimed to have enabled the brazen red-tagging of those critical of the government.
Article continues after this advertisement“The manner of Parlade’s public accusations are not condoned in the ATL. As far as the ATL is concerned, this is a law that allows our agencies and law enforcement to prevent terrorist acts from actually happening,” Torres-Gomez said.
Article continues after this advertisement“The term red-tagging – in the ATL is referred to as “designation” of terrorists or terrorist groups. This process is not taken lightly at all, and the ATL provides for a way for designated individuals and organizations to dispute this designation,” the lawmaker added.
INQUIRER.net has sought the comment of Parlade but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.
Torres-Gomez has said that Parlade’s errant actions should not affect the whole NTF-Elcac amid calls to defund the anti-insurgency agency amid the red-tagging issues its officials have been linked to.
The lawmaker earlier argued that suggestions to defund the NTF-Elcac are not the right action and answer to complaints of red-tagging.
