Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., Southern Luzon Command chief (PNA File photo)
MANILA – If some members of the religious sector are really doing what they are mandated to, then they have nothing to fear from the newly-enacted Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, a ranking military official said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., Southern Luzon Command chief, made the statement after the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) filed the 30th petition against the anti-terrorism law before the Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday.
In their petition, AMRSP said they fear of being suspected as terrorists in the course of their evangelical and missionary work.
"If these religious individuals are only doing what they are expected of them, to preach and evangelize, then they should not worry about anything. But if they allow themselves to be exploited and manipulated by communists in the religious sector, those belonging to the Christians for National Liberation (CNL), then definitely they will be in trouble with the law," said Parlade, who is also a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
He added that this is what happened to the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI) and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) who allowed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to use them as a means of getting funds from the European Union, European churches and other organizations.
Once collected and sent to the coffers of the CPP, Parlade said, the money is used to build schools and educational centers used by communist terrorists in radicalizing their children or minors recruits.
"These funds to build Salugpungan schools, ALCADEV(Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood) CLANS, TRIFPSS (Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur) and many other alternative learning centers for IPs, for the purpose of radicalizing the children," he added.
He said CPP-New People's Army (NPA) terrorists and its allies are known to capitalize on children’s innocence, and project an inutile government, and inculcate a culture of violent revolution.
With such narrative, the future of children recruits of the communist terrorists goes down the drain.
"RMP officials eventually admitted giving the 'Supamil' (Suporta sa Pamilya) of rebels, funds for NPAs, and other requirements of the NPAs. When you do that what does that make you? A saint?" he said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
"Let's end this hypocrisy of the CNL members hiding under the cloak of MISFI and AMRSP. It is unfair to the genuinely religious who have dedicated their lives to lift the souls of the vulnerable from misery and poverty," Parlade said.
While not into generalizing things, the NTF ELCAC official said if religious groups won't aid known terrorist groups, then there is nothing for them to fear from the government and the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
"We don’t over-generalize but we will call spade a spade. If you don’t aid terrorists, then you are safe, no matter how loud your voices are in airing your grievance(s) against the government," he said. (PNA)
