MANILA, Philippines – Ibinasura ang dating kaso na inihain laban kay dating anti-communist task force spokesperson at retired Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. dahil walang batas na nagbabawal sa red-tagging, ani Ombudsman Samuel Martires nitong Lunes, Setyembre 11.
Si Martires kasi ay humarap sa House committee on appropriations, at nagtanong si Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel tungkol sa status ng kaso laban kay Parlade at iba pang opisyal ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) officials, kabilang si dating undersecretary Lorraine Badoy.
Naunang sinabi ng Ombudsman na ibinasura ang kaso laban kina Parlade at Badoy, ngunit kalaunan ay nilinaw na ang reklamo laban kay Parlade na No. 006 noong 2022 ang na-dismiss.
Nagpapatuloy naman umano ang iba pang kaso.
“With the huge amount ng cases, I don’t know the status of each. But if the honorable Congressman is referring to those cases against Parlade, Badoy et. al., Esperon, with respect to red-tagging, those cases were already dismissed due to the reason that there is no law that prohibits red tagging. In the absence of a law we cannot arrogate on to ourselves by saying they violated red-tagging,” aniya.
“Before I go further, ‘yon pong kaso ni Parlade that was filed in 2022, which is 006, ay nadismiss na po. Another case against Badoy, which was filed also in 2022, 008 is still an ongoing investigation. The other cases pending against Parlade and other employees ng PCOO ay na file pa ito no’n pang 2005, we will check if these are still undergoing investigation,” pagpapatuloy pa niya.
Hiniling naman ni Martires si Manuel na magbigay ito ng listahan ng mga kaso laban kay Parlade at Badoy para makapagbigay ito ng update kaugnay sa mga kaso sa mga ito.
“If you could please give us a copy of those cases, we assure you that we will furnish you a copy of the status of those cases. The earliest would be this afternoon. But I assure you that for the cases that are dismissed, I am sure that complainants have been given a copy,” sinabi ni Martires.
“Now, regarding the point that there is no red-tagging, if you file a complaint for violation of the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, it seems like you are using the law to pass through complaints for red-tagging. Right? This is what we call an alibi,” paliwanag pa niya. RNT/JGC
