Antonio Parlade Jr.

Antonio Parlade Jr. was born on July 26, 1965, in Ligao, Albay but grew up in Daraga. His father Antonio Sr. was a farmer while her mother Manuela was a school teacher. He is the second eldest among four brothers. Under an agreement he was supposed to pursue priesthood while his elder brother was to enter the military. His brother failed to resolve issues on his dental health which was a prerequisite for him to get admitted to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). These experiences prompted Parlade Jr.'s the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1983. ==Military career==

Through his career in the Armed Forces, Parlade became commander of various posts in the army, such as the Chief of Public Affairs Office and Spokesman for the Philippine Army, the Chief of Staff for Headquarters and Headquarters Support Group, and as Chief for Information Operations Division. 6th Infantry Division and Reform the Armed Forces Movement Upon first being accepted into the Armed Forces, Parlade Jr volunteered to be assigned to the 6th Infantry "Kampilan" Division of the Philippine Army (6ID PA) in Mindanao, which was active in counterinsurgency combat operations against the Moro National Liberation Front. After obtaining some combat experience, Parlade Jr received training AFP Special Forces Regiment (Philippines) and then returned to combat operations with the 6ID. During this time, Parlade was decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Star. 1st Infantry Division As a result of his involvement in RAM, Parlade was among a number of officers transferred from the 6ID to the 1st Infantry "Tabak" Division (1ID) based in Zamboanga, which Parlade says was engaged counterinsurgency combat operations against "CPP NPAs, or communist terrorists" at that time. Special Forces Regiment Upon his return, Parlade Jr. was assigned to the Special Forces Regiment (Philippines), which focused on unconventional warfare and on "training, organizing, equipping, and controlling para-military forces." Within the PA Airborne, Parlade Jr.'s moved up the ladder from team leader, company commander, regimental staff, commandant of the Special Forces School, and battalion commander. By the time Parlade Jr was promoted to Lt. Colonel, he was chosen to take his Master of Military Science at the US Army Command and General Staff course in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By 2006, he completed his Master of Military Science thesis, "An Analysis of the Communist Insurgency in the Philippines," which called for "the systematic eradication of the causes of unrest through good governance, sound economic policies, effective legislation, aggressive policing, and a little bit of calculated military presence to make the people feel secure." Parlade was sacked from that post in 2011 when he went on television to question the government's policy in the wake of the October 18, 2011, Al-Barka MILF-military encounter. Because the troops sent to Al Barka were mostly trainees, the resulting encounter saw the deaths of 6 MILF personnel and 19 government personnel, with the soldiers’ bodies found to have been mutilated by the time they were recovered by the military. The Philippine government decided to pursue the mechanisms of the Bangsamoro peace process after the encounter, which the media called “one of the Army’s worst operational blunders in recent history.” Southern Luzon Command On 17 January 2020, Parlade took his post as the commander of the AFP Southern Luzon Command (SolCom), based in Camp Guillermo Nakar, Lucena City, where earned his third star and was promoted to Lieutenant general. Retirement Parlade retired from military service on July 25, 2021, and served a total of 38 years in the Philippine Army, and in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Among Parlade's military decorations include the Distinghished Conduct Star which was awarded to him in 1999, and he has twice been awarded Distinguished Service Star recipient, in 2007 and 2017. ==NTF-ELCAC spokesperson==

As one of the key crafters and as the spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Parlade has made public accusations that certain figures and institutions are linked to Communist rebels in the Philippines and consequentially has been criticized for "red-tagging" people and groups. He had also claimed in different instances that the Jabidah massacre in 1968 was a hoax spread by anti-government organizations despite the government acknowledging its reality in 2013. "Red-tagging" incidents In October 2018, Parlade was heavily criticized by De La Salle University, the University of Santo Tomas, and other higher education institutions when he identified 18 universities and colleges in Metro Manila as venues for recruitment for an alleged plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte, called "Red October". In October 2020, he accused of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno of "welcoming … terrorist[s]" to the city after the Moreno ordered the taking down of unauthorized tarpaulins that declared Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) members, New People's Army (NPA) fighters and national democrats as personae non gratae in the city. In the same month, he made similar allegations against a number of high-profile celebrities who criticized the government, including Angel Locsin, Liza Soberano, and Catriona Gray by associating their advocacy and rights activism work with the New People's Army. Soberano's camp denounced the "red tagging" of the actress. Gabriela Women’s Partylist Representative Arlene Brosas, senators Risa Hontiveros, and Francis Pangilinan defended Soberano and criticized Parlade's "red tagging", while the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) urged the general to retract his statement and apologize to the actress. Investigation by the Philippine Senate In February 2021, a Committee report from the Philippines' Senate Committee on National Defense criticized his behavior, saying it was bad for the government's anti-insurgency campaign. His role as a spokesperson was put into dispute, when Senator Ping Lacson questioned the legality of Parlade's appointment believing it to be a violation of Article 16, Section 5 of the Constitution, barring active members of the military from holding civilian positions. National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. reasoned that the prohibition only applies to Career Executive Service (CES) positions defined under Executive Order 371 issued by President Corazon Aquino and the role of spokesperson is not considered a CES position. Parlade resigned from his position as spokesperson for the NTF-ELCAC sometime in June 2021, though he vowed to continue his campaign against communist revolutionaries. Human Rights Watch said the Senate investigation of Parlade should lead to more efforts to hold accountable government officials whose red-tagging indirectly supports extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. During a panel interview, he had once clarified that, "Communism per se … if it's just belief in communism and that belief isn't paired with violence, I think everyone would get along. … In fact, in Europe … there are still many communist parties, but that's okay since they don't maintain armed wings. Their societies have come to accept them. But over here, it's different: [the CPP] has an armed wing. And that's why we're having this problem." Likewise, in a later interview, he said that, "It's the same with the right: if you're far right, and you [cross the line] by taking up arms and trying to overthrow the [government], that's a whole other story." Criminal and administrative complaints Human rights group Karapatan filed before the Office of the Ombudsman criminal and administrative complaints against Parlade for allegedly violating the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity. According to Karapatan, red-tagging by Parlade and other government officials fall under crimes against humanity of persecution. Parlade was also accused of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. ==Political career==

2022 disallowed presidential run Parlade submitted his candidacy for president in the 2022 presidential elections under the Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino party (KDP), but his substitution for independent candidate Antonio Valdez was disallowed by the Commission on Elections. ==Personal life==

Parlade is married to Cecile Ortega since 1995 with whom he had four daughters and a son. ==References==