CONTROVERSIAL military officer Army Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. resigned as National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson.
Parlade confirmed this as he said he had already submitted his resignation to President Rodrigo Duterte about a month ago.
President Duterte has accepted Parlade’s resignation, says presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
“Tinanggap po ang resignation ni Gen. Parlade as spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC That’s what I was able to confirm from [Defense] Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana,” he said.
“I want to ease the pressure to the NTF-ELCAC principals who are being questioned by legislators for designating me in spite of my being in the active service,” said Parlade.
Aside from being NTF-ELCAC spokesperson, Parlade is also Southern Luzon Command chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He will retire by July 26 where he will be 56 years old.
Parlade is known for his strong anti-communist actions and statements and accused of red-tagging efforts. He is commonly surrounded by controversies together with Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy, another NTF-ELCAC spokesperson.
Questions about Parlade’s appointment came after red-tagging community pantry organizers, especially when he likened Ana Patricia Non, the organizer of the Maginhawa Community Pantry, to Satan.
Lawmakers mulled defunding the agency over the remarks of its members that sow fear on the organizers of the different community pantries. However, Roque said that slashing their budget was not justified.
Despite his resignation, Parlade vowed to continue the fight against communist rebels and terrorists.