Malacañang on Monday backed the gag order imposed on two anti-insurgency officials over their vilification of community pantry organizers.
Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr, spokesman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy were issued gag orders for “red-tagging” Ana Patricia Non, the organizer of the Maginhawa community pantry, and others.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said government officials should be mindful of the statements they make publicly.
“Ang ating paki-usap po ay alam naman po natin ang polisiya natin, wine-welcome natin itong bayanihan ng community pantries at hinihingi natin sa lahat ng opisyales, maging mas maingat at maging…mas malalim sa kanilang mga sinasabi, na kailangan mas malawak ang kanilang pananaw,” he said in a Palace briefing.
“Malinaw po ang ating sinabi na noong isang press briefing ‘let a thousand community pantries bloom.’ Dahil ito po ay bayanihan, it exemplifies the best of the Filipino in the worst of times,” he added.
Roque said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. had ordered Parlade and Badoy to be kinder and more careful in their public statements.
However, the Palace spokesman said the NTF-ELCAC should not be defunded over Parlade and Badoy’s controversial statements.
“Alam naman po nila na ang policy ay may pagkakaiba doon sa mga nagpapatupad ng policy. At hindi naman dahilan para iyong isang tao na tagapagsalita ay maging dahilan para mabalewala ang isang polisiya,” he said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro