By Fernan Angeles
AN exasperated Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is putting an end to the controversial topic netizens are feasting on by issuing a directive to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stop red-tagging activities unless they have concrete proofs of their links to the communist insurgents.
In a statement, Lorenzana advised Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., spokesperson of the government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), not to make claims without backing it with evidence.
As of this posting, Parlade stood firm there was no red-tagging in his controversial statement. He has likewise declined to entertain the idea of apologizing even as he claimed to have done to Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano a great favor – and for that her lawyer thanked him.
“Why should I apologize?” Parlade asked. He said it is incorrect to say that Soberano’s lawyer and family were complaining about him for allegedly red-tagging the actress, when they were actually thanking him.
Parlade insisted he “did not red-tag Soberano,” and those saying that he did must have gotten the impression through second-hand sources, such as news reports, and not from his original statement. “I’m not threatening these women. I also have daughters, I have sisters. Ang dami kong kaibigan na mga babae and I support that advocacy to defend women’s rights.”
“Wala akong ni-red-tag. I’m not using, abusing my authority, my position to red-tag these people or harass these women. No, I am supporting their advocacy,” he added. Interestingly, a statement posted on the NTF-ELCAC Facebook page Wednesday, says otherwise. In fact, the Facebook post had Parlade saying that Soberano “is not an NPA” because she was simply advocating for women’s rights. “Not yet.” His succeeding lines shocked netizens — “There’s still a chance to abdicate” Gabriela Youth, otherwise, she “will suffer the same fate” as the likes of Josephine Anne Lapira. Lapira, a student of the University of the Philippines, was killed in an encounter between the military and the New People’s Army in 2017.
Parlade made the statement a week after Soberano joined a Gabriela Youth online forum as one of the special guests discussing issues that girls and young women are facing in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Soberano tearfully recalled receiving messages of support from fans and even stories of their personal experiences of sexual abuse, after she took to court the rape comment against her. In a statement Thursday, Soberano’s legal counsel said the actress was merely “expressing her love and respect for women and children” because this is her personal advocacy. “Ms. Soberano remains to be apolitical.
She does not support nor antagonize any person’s political views. The important point here is respect for others, a virtue she has conscientiously practiced all her life,” the statement read.