Senate seen to censure Parlade for calling senators stupid
MANILA, Philippines — Even as the threat of defunding looms over the government's anti-communist task force, one of its red-tagging spokespersons continues to draw the Senate's ire and will likely face a formal rebuke from the upper chamber.
A total of 15 senators have signed Senate Resolution 709, which seeks to censure Lt. Gen Antonio Parlade Jr., one of the spokespersons of the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict, for remarks he made in an interview with CNN Philippines' "Balitaan", where he called lawmakers stupid for threatening to defund the task force.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon is the primary author of the resolution, which was filed on Tuesday.
“Instead of engaging in a constructive debate, Lt. Gen. Parlade has chosen to demean and disparage the Senators, through statements that display his limited grasp of Congress’ role in the budget process and show his lack of respect not just for the Senators as duly-elected representatives of the people but also for the Senate as an institution,” it reads.
With more than half of the chamber in agreement, among them Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Drilon in an interview with ANC's "Matters of Fact" on Tuesday said that he is certain the resolution will be adopted when the Senate resumes session on May 17.
Other co-authors of the resolution are Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto and Sens. Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Sherwin Gatchalian, Leila de Lima, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino Pimentel IV, and Joel Villanueva.
Resolutions express the sense of a chamber—in this case, the Senate—but does not have the force or effect of law.
Parlade earlier this month drew condemnation from senators and inadvertently kick-started discussions to defund the NTF-ELCAC after comparing Ana Patricia Non, the founder of pioneering Maginhawwa community pantry, to the devil.
NTF-ELCAC has since said that it supports the community pantries, which its spokespersons had accused of having links to communist rebels.
"Contrary to the assertions of Lt. Gen. Parlade, progressive thinking is not communism and expression of opinions or criticisms and purposeful involvement in humanitarian community efforts do not constitute rebellion, sedition, or terrorism," senators said.
"If Parlade’s pronouncements and profiling of community pantry organizers were done pursuant to NTF-ELCAC's policy direction, then the agency has clearly departed from its mandate and members of the Senate have basis to realign its funds to more worthy causes that would make better use of taxpayers’ money, such as providing much-needed aid to people suffering from the effects of the pandemic."
READ: Senators: Leave community pantries alone
NTF-ELCAC in hot water with Senate
Senators last month sought Parlade's dismissal as NTF-ELCAC spokesman, saying that his serving on a civilian task force despite being an active member of the military, as chief of its Southern Luzon Command, violates the 1987 Constitution.
As Parlade embarked on yet another red-tagging spree last week, Senate defense committee chair Lacson went so far as to say that the Department of National Defense's refusal to dismiss the red-tagging general left him unsure as to whether he would defend the department and its attached agencies' budgets "with the same tenacity" this year.
On Monday, five senators filed a resolution seeing a review of the NTF-ELCAC's performance "in fulfilling its mandate vis-à-vis the need for judicious use of scarce government resource."
The week before, Drilon reiterated his longstanding concern that the NTF-ELCAC may be using its multibillion-peso funds in aid of the upcoming elections in 2022. In light of this, he urged Senate leadership to compel the task force to submit a quarterly report to Congress on the utilization of its P19 billion budget for 2021
Drilon also recently called for the immediate passage of his Senate Bill No. 2121, which would punish red-tagging state agents with up to ten years in prison and disqualification from public office. — Bella Perez-Rubio
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