Red-tagging by Parlade bad for anti-insurgency campaign, Senate panel says

Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade's comments on certain personalities whom he claimed were members of the Communist movement has cast in bad light the government's anti-insurgency campaign and the Anti-Terror Law, the Senate Committee on National Defense has said.

In its Committee Report NO. 186, the panel chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson said Parlade's comments as spokesman of the National Task Force on Ending the Local Armed Conflict were counter-productive.

"Coming from a high-ranking military official, whose statements may be misconstrued as the policy not only of the NTF-ELCAC but also that of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the aforementioned contentious pronouncements are mere propaganda efforts which is inconsequential - if not counterproductive - to the cause of the anti-insurgency program," the committee said in its report.

"Such unnecessary media visibility is not part of the whole of the nation approach in countering terrorism. It draws attention away from the actual progress of localized peace talks and undermines the Anti-Terrorism Act," it added.

The committee in 2020 conducted a series of hearings on government officials' alleged red-tagging of certain individuals and its impact on the anti-insurgency campaign and human rights.

The committee referred to Parlade's branding of members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives and petitioners in the Supreme Court against the Anti-Terror Act as fronts of the armed Communist insurgency.

Parlade also said that they were being monitored under the legal cover of the anti-terror law.

The committee pointed out that charges have yet to be filed against the Left-leaning House members and the petitioners against the law.

"If at all, it can be likened to counter-narratives to violent extremist messaging. The difference, however, is that actual individuals and groups are named as members of the CPP," the committee said.

"If not rectified, these reckless and negligent propaganda wars waged by the NTF- ELCAC, particularly by Lt. Gen. Parlade will lead to further polarization," it added. -NB, GMA News