INSTEAD of scaling down, the government’s anti-communist task force boosted its personnel by hiring more spokespersons. National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., vice chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), introduced on Monday the eight spokespersons. Originally, the panel had two spokespersons — Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. and Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy. “The designation of officials under the expanded pool of spokespersons allows our focus, discourse and engagement with the public from each spokesperson’s respective thematic coverage,” Esperon said in a virtual press briefing. He made the statement during a recent virtual press conference as he addressed criticisms against the task force on the supposed red-tagging of groups and individuals.

Source: Manila Times May 10, 2021 16:18 UTC