Lorenzana cautions Parlade to ‘keep quiet’ on red-tagging issue

Lorenzana said that he will be seeking a meeting with the members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) to discuss the issue.

(C) Flickr,U.S. Secretary of Defense

Last updated on October 29th, 2020 at 08:33 am

METRO MANILA – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday advises Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.’s controversial remarks against celebrities Liza Soberano, Angel Locsin and Catriona Gray to keep quiet if the security forces have no evidence against people they believed to be communist rebels.

Lorenzana said that he will be seeking a meeting with the members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) to discuss the issue.

He will also be setting up a meeting with Parlade, who is also the NTF-Elcac spokesperson. The NTF-Elcac is currently being chaired by President Duterte himself with National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon as his Vice Chair.

Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr came under intense fire after making several statements about celebrities Liza Soberano, Angel Locsin and Catriona Gray for being apart of the organization being tagged as a communist front.

Both the camps of Soberano and Locsin denied Parlade’s remarks that not only endangered them but also their families.

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#NoToRedTagging #YesToRedLipstick 😅 To set the record straight, hindi po ako parte ng NPA or any terrorist group 😅. Neither my sister nor my kuya Neri is a part of the NPA or any terrorist group. We live in a country where our freedom to speak and express ourselves are enshrined and protected by the Constitution. May paniniwala ako, may paniniwala sila, may paniniwala ka. At sa ilalim ng Consitution, pareho tayong mayroong karapatan sa ating mga sariling paniniwala. Kung mag kaiba tayo, hindi ibig sabihin pwede mo na ako i-red tag. Hindi tayo magkakalaban dito. Hindi rin ako “red”. Magkaiba lang tayo ng paniniwala. Nanawagan po ako sa kinauukulan, na itama po ang mali na ito. Tigilan na po ang red tagging. The statement made is utterly false and places ordinary citizens like us, those who they swore to protect, in danger. Nakakalungkot po isipin na dito napupunta ang malaking halaga na 19.3B, sa mga paratang na walang basehan at pananakot na red tagging. Sana ibigay na lang po sa ibang departamento ng AFP katulad ng medical reserve corps o pagtaas ng sweldo at pension ng mga sundalo natin. Malaking tulong rin po for purchasing vaccines or other covid response programs. Many of our country men need financial assistance. Mga OFW na nawalan ng trabaho. Madaming mas nangangailangan ng pera ngayon. Sana doon na lang ilaan at sana doon ibuhos ang oras. I am also appealing to everyone to express support for those being red-tagged like Liza Soberano, Catriona Grey, and all the others just because they are expressing their beliefs peacefully By being vocal about my opinions and advocacies, I have always been attacked. Those I could ignore but this is a different level altogether. And so I have to speak up once again because this baseless and reckless red-tagging jeopardizes not only my safety, but also the safety of my sister and our family. 💋

A post shared by Angel Locsin (@therealangellocsin) on Oct 22, 2020 at 6:37pm PDT

Angel Locsin on Friday, urged the government to stop ‘red tagging’ ordinary people like herselt who just want to voice their opinion and advocacies.

In her Facebook post, the actress denied that she, her sister and her nephew Neri Colmenares, a former congressman, were part of any terrorist group. She appealed to the authorities to correct what Parlade accuses them as the statement made is utterly false and that the ordinary people they swore to protect, are now in danger.

Related Article: https://www.theasianaffairs.com/philippines/2020/10/22/liza-soberanos-camp-denounces-red-tagging/