Gabriela backs Liza Soberano versus 'mansplaining' NTF-ELCAC's Parlade

It's women standing up for women!

Gabriel Women's Party lambasted National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for allegedly red-tagging Liza Soberano on his statement, which then pertained to the actress' support for the group's youth arm Gabriela Youth.

Coming to Soberano's defense is Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas who, in a series of tweets, called Palarde's remark a false pretense.

She tweeted on Thursday, "Major General Antonio Parlade Jr.’s appeal to stop red-tagging Liza Soberano is starkly ironic because he actually red-tagged Soberano in his same statement."

"By saying that Soberano is 'not yet an NPA,' he is maliciously associating the actress with the armed movement when what she did in the youth forum was to only speak up for all the victims of gender-based violence and abuse," she added.

Brosas swiped at Parlade and his committee for "mansplaining"—slang for the act of explaining something in a condescending manner—women on what to do.

"It is clear that Parlade, the NTF-ELCAC, and the paid trolls are the ones who are rabidly red-tagging Liza Soberano and other female celebrities and influencers who are taking a stand and speaking out against the macho-fascism under the Duterte regime. How come these macho-fascists have the audacity to mansplain strong women and lecture them on what to do? And why do they seem so afraid of women using their platform to defend other women?"

"These rabid NTF-ELCAC executives are using their rehashed script to discredit Gabriela Women’s Party despite our long track record of advocating women’s rights. Our 20 years of advancing women and children’s rights inside and outside of Congress cannot be smeared by their lies."

Palarde earlier warned Soberano that her association with the movement could lead her to the "same fate" as Josephine Anne Lapira, a 22-year-old UP Manila student who died in an encounter between government troops and the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Nasugbu, Batangas in 2017.

“Let us not red-tag Liza Soberano. It’s not fair to her. She is merely supporting advocacy for women's rights. She has to be protected in the exercise of her rights. Is she an NPA? No, of course not. Not yet," Palarde said in a statement released on the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Facebook page on October 20.

He added, "Liza Soberano, there's still a chance to abdicate that group. If you don't, you will suffer the same fate as Josephine Anne Lapira. It's a pity she (Lapira) learned about nonsense things like nabbing a firearm, exploitation while already inside the underground. It was too late she is dead."