MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday rejected a call from the Senate to remove a general as spokesperson of the government's anti-communist task force. Parlade's designation as task force spokesperson has given rise to a situation where he cannot be disciplined for his actions by the Armed Forces of the Philippines' leadership. "If you remove General Parlade, then remove the armed forces from the task force as well. This would mean that the armed forces have nothing to do with the NTF-ELCAC, which is not true," Lorenzana said in Filipino. He did not address, however, the issue that the NTF-ELCAC "is a civilian task force and not a military task force," as noted on Wednesday night by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who chairs the Senate panel on defense.

Source: Philippine Star March 11, 2021 09:33 UTC