THE call for the immediate termination of the controversial government anti-insurgency task force spokesperson is something that is for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to decide, says a top Palace official.
In a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte has more macro concerns that should attend to and that does not include firing NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade.
According to the Palace spokesperson, Parlade’s controversial statements against community pantries could well be addressed by the task force itself, which has the power to determine whether or not he should go.
Interestingly, it was the President himself who created the NTF-ELCAC.
Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier urged Duterte to remove Parlade from his civilian post not only for branding pantry organizers as communists but also due to supposed reckless statements about the Anti-Terrorism Law.
“Hindi naman po nagma-micromanage ang ating Presidente. Bahala na po ang NTF-ELCAC kung susundin nila o hindi ang rekomendasyon ni Senator Lacson,” Roque told reporters when asked to comment over Lacson’s statement.
Lacson and some senators already cited that Article 16, Section 5, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution bars an active member of the military to serve in a civilian post.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces Chief Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, however, maintained that Parlade’s appointment was not illegal since the Armed Forces of the Philippines is part of the NTF-ELCAC created by President Duterte in 2018.
Aside from tagging humanitarians as communists, Parlade likewise dragged the person behind the Maginhawa Community Pantry as more like Satan offering an apple to Eve