Senators seek to 'censure' Parlade for disrespecting the Senate
At least ten senators have signed a draft resolution by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon that aims to “censure” Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade, Jr., spokesman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), for his remarks against the Senate.
The resolution is in response to Parlade’s statement calling some senators, who said that the NTF-ELCAC should be defunded over issues of red-tagging community pantry organizers, as "stupid."
In an interview with The Chiefs at One News, Parlade denied that the NTF-ELCAC was red-taggging community party organizers, but said they are checking their backgrounds. Parlade, in the same interview, also likened Ana Patricia Non , who started the Maginhawa Community Pantry, to “Satan.”
“Instead of engaging in a productive debate, Parlade’s arrogance in his remarks against the Senators showed his lack of respect for duly-elected representatives of the people and the Senate as an institution,” read a portion of the draft resolution.
So far, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Joel Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Panfilo Lacson, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Koko Pimentel, and Grace Poe have signed Drilon’s resolution.
Villanueva, meanwhile, has filed a resolution today to investigate the NTF-ELCAC’s operations to determine whether it is effective in fulfilling its mandate and efficient in its budget utilization.”
“We filed this resolution today to hold NTF-ELCAC accountable for its operations, including the baseless red tagging of community pantries and certain individuals. It is our responsibility as legislators to ensure that government programs do not harm the people we serve,” Villanueva said.