MANILA -- Major General Antonio Parlade Jr., of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) sees nothing wrong with the appointment of Duterte Youth party-list representative and former National Youth Commission chair, Ronald Cardema, as one of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA)'s Board of Advisers (BOA).
"What's wrong with that if the institution looks at him and the NYC as a significant partner in its quest for genuine reforms," Parlade said in a statement Sunday.
He said the BOA was activated in April this year as a third-party lens to guide the PMA in its transformation roadmap.
Parlade, who is also the Armed Forces of the Philippines Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations, made the comment following criticism of some sectors on Cardema's appointment as adviser to the PMA which dismissed the latter from its cadet ranks, more than 10 years ago, for allegedly communicating with Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairperson Jose Maria "Joma" Sison.
"Cardema as a victim of red-tagging? I don't know about that but I am sure he was discharged because there were security protocols violated. During our time as cadets, our classmate who was the son of our Commandant of Cadets, who later became CG PAF (Commanding General Philippine Air Force), was discharged for violating cadet rules also. If PMA knew that Cadet Victor Corpus was a potential security threat I’m sure he would have been dismissed as well," he added.
Earlier reports said Cardema was named as one of the members of the BOA due to his position as NYC chairperson.
He later resigned from his post at the NYC to be as substitute nominee of the Duterte Youth Party-list after his wife, Ducielle Marie Suarez, withdrew her nomination.
The Commission on Elections is yet to act on Cardema's substitution petition.
Cardema, he said, is a very credible critic of the Makabayan bloc and other leftist groups with known connections to the CPP-New People's Army (NPA), a listed terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
"But as to Cardema's being an anti-terrorist campaigner, let's give it to him. He is a very credible critic of the Kamatayan (Makabayan) bloc because he knows what he is talking about, as a former LFS (League of Filipino Students) member himself," Parlade added.
He said because of Cardema’s personal knowledge of how the CPP-NPA and its allies work, the rebels are afraid to see Cardema in the House of Representatives as he is very capable of exposing the duplicity and deception of the front organizations of the CPP-NPA operating in Congress.
Instead of sanctioning former activists like Cardema, Parlade said the public should recognize the efforts of these individuals and former rebels for championing the cause of true peace and reconciliation aside from their denouncement of the acts of violence and atrocities committed by the communist rebels and their allies for decades.
"If these hardcore (National Democratic Front members) like Satur (Ocampo) for instance, will realize the futility of this violence and join mainstream (society) we will gladly welcome them to be Board of Advisers of AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) if that's what it takes to attain peace, reconciliation, and eventually progress for the Philippines. Just let them denounce violence and we are good," he added. (PNA)
