Gag order issued on two ‘Red-tagging’ officers
MANILA: A senior cabinet member confirmed he imposed a gag order on two officials of a government anti-insurgency task force denounced for “Red-tagging” the organiser of a “community or village pantry” that helped provide food and other essential needs of poor Metro Manila residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hermogenes Esperon, the national security adviser, explained he issued the gag order in his capacity as the chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Official Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as the controversy worsened.
Esperon said his order affected the two task force spokesmen — Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade, also the head of the military’s Southern Luzon command, and Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy.
“I have earlier asked the two spokespersons to desist from issuing further statements on the community pantries,” Esperon said in a text message.
“The official stand of the NTF-ELCAC is to support and encourage the bayanihan/community pantries.”
In particular, Parlade got the ire of human rights advocates, lawmakers and netizens when he admited they were subjecting businesswoman Ana Patricia Non, the initial village pantry organizer, to a character check, or “profiling” to determine whether she had connections with communist insurgents.
Parlade’s admission came ater Non’s initiative spread like wildfire that led to the establishment of such pantries throughout the Philippines under the concept of, “Give what you can, take what you need.”
Latest reports revealed that overseas Filipino workers in Timor Leste near Indonesia have also set up a community pantry at the capital to help serve food and other essential items for poor residents adversely affected by pandemic.
Aside from irate netizens, Parlade was also involved in a “word war” with senators who crossed party lines to demand not only his ouster but also use the NTF-ELCAC budget instead to help the government provide more financial help to millions of poor Filipinos suffering from the pandemc.