Rodrigo Duterte

Malacañang doubts Duterte will fire Parlade despite remarks

Pia Ranada

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Malacañang doubts Duterte will fire Parlade despite remarks

REINING IN PARLADE. President Duterte has not yet spoken publicly about Lt General Antonio Parlade Jr and community pantries.

Malacañang Photo

'Our President does not micromanage,' says Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque when asked if Duterte, who chairs NTF-ELCAC, will fire military general Antonio Parlade Jr from his post as task force spokesperson

Condemned by several senators and derided by many for baselessly red-tagging community pantry organizers, Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr will still likely not get axed by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Malacañang said on Tuesday, April 27, that the matter is not significant enough to call the attention of the Chief Executive.

“Our President does not micromanage,” said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque when asked if Duterte would fire Parlade from his post as NTF-ELCAC spokesperson as suggested by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

“It’s up to NTF-ELCAC if they will follow the recommendation of Senator Lacson,” continued Roque in Filipino.

However, the chairperson of the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) is none other than President Duterte.

Its vice chairperson is National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr and it counts as its members 18 government agencies, including the defense and justice departments. Parlade sits as task force executive director, apart from being its spokesman.

Duterte has so far not spoken publicly about Parlade or his remarks about community pantries.

Gag order?

Malacañang appears to be satisfied with Esperon telling Parlade and another NTF-ELCAC official, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy to stop making public remarks about community pantries.

However, Parlade, in a message to Rappler, doesn’t seem to understand Esperon’s orders that way.

Hindi ‘yan ang sinabi ni Secretary Esperon (That’s not what Secretary Esperon said),” he said on Monday.

Rappler asked Roque if the Palace was worried that Parlade’s language was endangering the President’s priority programs, like the P16-billion Barangay Development Program of the NTF-ELCAC.

“Well, I think our lawmakers know that programs have a different rationale compared to those standing as spokespersons,” Roque said in Filipino on Tuesday.

He repeated the Palace stance that the government “welcomes” community pantries and that officials should be “more careful” with their words and “kailangan mas malawak ang kanilang pananaw (should be more open minded).”

Bigger and bigger consequences

Parlade’s remarks about community pantries have sprouted bigger and bigger consequences.

Critics have slammed as dangerous his unproven claims that community pantries are part of a communist recruitment strategy. He’s also likened its organizers to “Satan” and claimed there was something insidious about the speed by which such efforts reached other parts of the country.

Besieged by criticisms coming from lawmakers and other government officials, Parlade lashed out and called senators “stupid,” which prompted 15 senators to censure him.

There are now calls in both chambers of Congress to defund the NTF-ELCAC.

It’s not the first time senators called for Parlade’s dismissal from the task force. In early March, senators made the recommendation saying Parlade, as an active-duty military officer, cannot lead a civilian task force.

Lacson has also said Parlade’s ferocious red-tagging endangers government efforts to build trust in the controversial anti-terrorism law. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Sleeve, Clothing, Apparel

author

Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.