Press Release
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Sunday hailed Malacañang and the defense establishment for upholding the rule of law in naming a new commanding general for the Philippine Army.
Lacson, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, and is Vice Chairman of the Committee on National Defense of the Commission on Appointments, said the appointment of Maj. Gen. Andres Centino to replace Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. complies with Section 4 of Republic Act 8186.
Lacson first raised the issue last March at the Commission on Appointments, when he noted Faustino was designated Army chief in February. Faustino is to retire upon reaching the retirement age of 56 in November.
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Senator Panfilo M. Lacson
(SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
‘’Especially if the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) spokesperson (Lt, Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.) continues to threaten to affect its mission with uncalled-for statements,’’ Lacson said in his statement.
The red-baiting statements ascribed to Parlade on the growth of community pantry, particularly in Quezon City, triggered calls for the defunding of the NTF-ELCAC.
Lacson recalled that since 2016, he has been defending the budget of the DND and its attached agencies as vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The senator also chairs the Senate national defense and security committee, which conducted the inquiry on the red-tagging issues concerning government officials.
Since 2016, I have been defending the budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) and all its attached agencies. Last year, I stubbornly fought to retain the P16.5-billion anti-insurgency fund of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for 2021, arguing that it was intended for development programs, activities and projects in areas that had been cleared of the presence of the New People s Army (NPA), and not for armed anti-insurgency operations.
Early this year, the Senate approved in plenary my Committee s recommendations on the red-tagging issue - including the immediate relief of Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. as spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC, not only because his civilian position is violative of the Constitution. He has in fact, on many occasions, become a liability to the overall efforts of the government, as well as the government s position on the pending 37 petitions against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 before the Supreme Court, mainly
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