BY VICTOR REYES and RAYMOND AFRICA
RETIRED Army general and presidential candidate Antonio Parlade yesterday said presidential aspirant Sen. Bong Go is part of the country’s problems, thus he decided against aligning himself with the senator in the coming elections.
He declined to elaborate and told media to ask instead the Armed Forces and other persons in government. The military declined to comment but a senior military official indicated that assignments to key positions in the Armed Forces is among issues raised against Go.
Parlade said he has no rift with Go. “I just don’t like the way he does things, including controlling the decisions of the President.”
Go said no one controls President Duterte, and he makes the decisions himself. He also said the issue has been answered by the President.
“Siya mismo ang nagsabi na hindi naman siya magiging Pangulo kung pinapaikot lang siya ng ibang tao. Tanging siya ang gumagawa ng kanyang magagandang desisyon (The President has already said that he will not become President if people around him control him. Only he himself makes the good decisions),” Go said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called Parlade’s statements “baseless.”
“In the years I have known the President, he has always been his own man. The President stands by his own decisions, has always been firm in his directives to us, who are working for him, and is not as easily swayed or influenced by others as purported by the general,” said Lorenzana.
Lorenzana said Go helped double the salaries of soldiers and is consistent in “strongly supporting DND (Department of National Defense) in all its programs and modernization efforts.”
“In all these endeavors, Bong Go’s support to the DND and AFP has not abated. He has always been our main bridge to the President and I have not known any instance when SBG (Sen. Bong Go) acted outside the wishes and decisions of the President,” said Lorenzana.
Lorenzana also said the Armed Forces remains a professional organization and it continues to “work in the interest of the Filipino people, regardless of the prevailing political landscape.”
“There is no truth to the allegations that there is brewing trouble or discontent in the AFP,” he said.
Go said as an assistant to Duterte for more than 20 years, his role is to help Duterte implement the good decisions he has made for the good of the people, one of which is the increase in monthly pay of uniformed personnel.
He said he will not in a word war with Parlade out of respect for him.
“Sa katunayan, isa rin ako sa nagrekomenda na maging undersecretary siya. Alam naman nila ang katotohanan. Mainit na ang pulitika. Pero hayaan natin ang taumbayan ang humusga (I was one of those who recommended him to be appointed as undersecretary.
They know the truth. Politics is already in the air. But we better just let the people decide),” he added.
Parlade made the statement shortly after he filed his candidacy as a substitute candidate of the Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP), before the Commission on Elections yesterday.
Go, a long-time aide of President Duterte before becoming senator, is running for president under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan. He first filed his candidacy for vice president under the ruling PDP-Laban.
Parlade, asked why he did not align himself with Go’s political party, said, “I cannot align with Sen. Bong Go. I’m sorry but isa siya, kasama siya sa problema ng bayan natin (he is one, he is part of the problem of our country).”
He said there were many instances when Go controlled the decisions of the President, the commander-in-chief of the 150,000-strong Armed Forces.
Asked to elaborate, Parlade said: “No, I don’t want to elaborate on that. You ask the AFP, you ask the Philippine Army, you ask the secretary of national defense.”
Told of an earlier statement by the President that no one is controlling him, Parlade said: “Okay, that’s okay, that’s his prerogative, kung yan ang feeling niya (if that’s the way he feels).”
The Armed Forces and the Army declined to comment on Parlade’s remarks.
“The AFP is and will remain non-partisan. Our mandate is clear. Our task is to ensure the peace and security of the elections and allow the will of the Filipino people to manifest and prevail,” said AFP spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala.
Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the Army is not going to comment on Parlade’s claim, adding the Army has been directed by higher headquarters not to engage in any partisan political activity.
The senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Go had been meddling in the assignments of military officials.
“The President made him so powerful,” he said, adding assignments of star-ranked officers pass through Go before these are approved by the President.
He said that while the AFP Board of Generals makes recommendations on assignments in the AFP, “the final say is still the President.”
The source said Go has been dictating who should be assigned to certain positions.
“That’s what’s happening, that’s the truth. What’s happening is instead of making the AFP apolitical, they encouraging officers to approach Bong Go for his blessing,” said the official.
He said such incidents are also happening outside the AFP.
“He (Go) made the AFP so political. That’s my take there. He made the AFP very political because everyone knows he is the gatekeeper, the President will approve if you are with Bong Go. So many are approaching him. That’s what’s happening,” he added.
Parlade, known as the “red-tagging general,” last commanded the military’s Southern Luzon Command based in Lucena City. He bowed out of the military last July upon reaching the retirement age of 56. For several years, he served as spokesman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a body leading the campaign against insurgency. The body is chaired by President Duterte.
It was in his capacity as NTF-ELCAC spokesman that he “red-tagged” some individuals, including showbiz personalities, media men and people who organized community pantries.
Parlade resigned from the task force a few weeks before his retirement from the Armed Forces.
In September, Parlade was appointed by President Duterte as deputy director general of the National Security Council. He is deemed resigned from the post for seeking an elective post.
Parlade said he decided to run for senator four days earlier and did not seek a blessing from President Duterte.
“Alam ni Presidente ang laman ng utak ko, ang laman ng puso ko at hindi ko kinakailangang magpaalam sa Presidente (The President knows what is in my brain, what’s in my heart and I don’t need to seek permission from the President),” he said.
But he said he supports President Duterte and his program, including the fight against the communists through the NTF-ELCAC.
