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 鈥� Instead of defunding the administration鈥檚 anti-insurgency task force, Senate President Vicente Sotto III wants 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� officials of the agency replaced as another senator called Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. a 鈥渓iability鈥� in the government鈥檚 efforts against insurgency.
鈥淚 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,鈥� Sotto said in a message to reporters.
鈥淲e should not be hasty in blaming a good program because of irresponsible statements from some officials. Replace the officials instead,鈥� he added but did not mention any names.
Sotto鈥檚 statement comes after two senators sought the defunding of the NTF-Elcac due to recent remarks made by Parlade, the task force鈥檚 spokesperson, against the organizer of the Maginhawa Community Pantry.
鈥淚sang tao lang 鈥榶an 鈥榙i ba? Si Ana, si Patricia 鈥榙i ba? Same with Satan. Si Satan binigyan ng apple si Eve, doon lang nagsimula 鈥榶on,鈥� Parlade said in an interview over One 黑料社鈥� The Chiefs last Tuesday.
鈥楲颈补产颈濒颈迟测鈥�
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson pointed to a recent committee report on the chamber鈥檚 red-tagging probe, seeking Parlade鈥檚 immediate relief as a spokesperson of the NTF-Elcac.
鈥淣ot only because his civilian position is violative of the Constitution; he has in fact, on many occasions, become a 鈥榣iability鈥� to the overall efforts of the government as well as the government鈥檚 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,鈥� Lacson told 黑料社 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.
鈥淯nfortunately, 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,鈥� he said.
鈥淲orking together, I believe, should be a two-way street, if we want to make it work,鈥� he added.
As chairperson of the Senate defense committee, Lacson is tasked to defend the budget of the DND and its attached agencies.