UNDER SURVEILLANCE

Colmenares, Makabayan 'card-bearing' CPP members, Parlade insists

Armed Forces' Southern Luzon Command chief Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr. on Monday said former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, as well as members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, are under surveillance for being "card-bearing" members of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

"It's not only Neri Colmenares [who is under surveillance] but it is also other members of the Kamatayan bloc, the Makabayan bloc," said Parlade on ANC.

"They are card-bearing members of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and I like to repeat that again and again and again," he added, citing information from former CPP members who are now with the government.

Colmenares has denied being a CPP member and dared Parlade and the military to file charges if they have evidence instead of resorting to "red-tagging."

The Makabayan bloc, meanwhile, condemned the surveillance.

"We, the Makabayan bloc in Congress, condemn the continued red tagging and surveillance not just of our chairman former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmemares but our whole bloc as well," the group said in a collective statement.

The group sees the surveillance as National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict's (NTF-ELCAC) way of "hitting back" at them for exposing the "generals' pork" under the task force's budget for 2021, supposedly amounting to P19.1 billion.

Parlade, who is NTF-ELCAC's spokesperson, said the surveillance is conducted to make sure that they will have a strong case against persons linked to groups officially declared as terrorists by the government. Presidential Proclamation 374 declares the CPP-New People's Army-National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization.

"We have to make sure we do our assignment well," he said, claiming there's been a "clamor" from the public for the government to file cases against personalities whose links to the CPP "are very pronounced."

Parlade also insisted that conducting intelligence surveillance is legal. The newly released implementing rules and regulations of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 mandates that a court order is needed for surveillance operations.

"We've been doing surveillance even before this law," Parlade said. "That's part of the job of the intelligence."

To prove his point, Parlade said the military has been conducting surveillance in the West Philippine Sea, on criminals, and on "a lot of people which have something to do with national security" even before the anti-terrorism law was passed.

Parlade said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is in favor of filing charges against terrorist fronts.

“We discussed that already. I talked to Secretary Lorenzana. Yes, we have hard evidence. I am not going to speak here if I don’t have evidence,” Parlade said.

“When we file cases against this people we have very strong evidence against them para wala na talagang lusot this time, para makulong itong mga ito,” he added.

Parlade, however, did not say when charges will be filed.

Colmenares, for his part, said that they are also mulling on filing charges against Parlade for red-tagging them once President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends on June 30, 2022.

"The moment President Duterte’s term ends, definitely, we will file against them because of what they did not just to me but other person like the celebrities he red-tagged. He’s been doing that for so many years,” Colmenares, a lawyer, said also in ANC interview.

"We are being attacked and have a judicial forum to answer the allegations. [But] right now, it is very difficult to file cases against them. They are in government, they have all the means and the resources and everybody is intimidated by them,”  he added.

Parlade earlier warned actress Liza Soberano, as well as Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, of engaging with Gabriela Women’s Party, which is a part of the Makabayan bloc.

Parlade however said Gabriela is not target of military operations because if they are then they would be dead already.

"Kung target sila ng military operations ay matagal na silang patay," he said although he mentioned at least three supposed Gabriela members who were killed in past military clashes with NPA rebels. —Llanesca T. Panti/KBK, GMA News