Opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan said the failure to discipline a high ranking military official who is unable to control his tongue despite admonitions from his superiors is damaging the image and reputation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as a highly disciplined, professional institution.
Pangilinan thus asked whether Lt. General Antonio Parlade Jr., spokesman of the National Task Force to end Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), is untouchable.
Loose lips sink ships, he stressed.
Pangilinan questioned why there is an apparent one-sidedness in the treatment by the AFP leadership of Parlade and Major General Alex Luna.
Luna was yanked out as chief of the AFP intelligence service for reportedly red-tagging some University of the Philippines (UP) alumni.
"This AFP action may be miscontrued as the AFP playng favorites and the some are more favored that the others. Again this sows disuniity within the ranks...Is Parlade untouchable?" Pangilinan said.
A recent Senate committee report asked that Parlade be taken out as NTF-ELCAC spokesman because such a post is civilian in character.
Parlade was again put to task for red-tagging several personalities last year, and some organizers of community pantries this month.
Aside from red-tagging, Parlade also incurred the ire of senators whom he tagged as ‘’stupid’’ for their threats to defund the NTF ELCAC.