SC asked to compel gov't to explain another threat made by red-tagging Parlade

MANILA, Philippines — A group of petitioners against the Anti-Terrorism Act, led by former Supreme Court justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales, again brought before the high court another threat made by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., this time against a journalist who he baselessly accused of being a propagandist for communist rebels.

Parlade, spokesman for National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, on social media threatened to sue Inquirer.net reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas over her report on two Aeta farmers who said that they were tortured into admitting that they were members of the New People's Army.

The farmers implored the Supreme Court to allow them to join the legal battle against the Anti-Terrorism Act, the same law under which Parlade threatened to file a suit against Torres-Tupas for what he said was aiding terrorists.

Parlade's social media posts "threaten criminal prosecution for a crime punishable of up to life imprisonment against Ms. Tupas or any journalist who publishes any news article that may be perceived as 'FAKE' or 'false' by the military," the group said in a four-page manifestation.

"Such direct threats engender fear that chills journalists or even citizens from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press."

"Moreover, the threats' obvious invasion of protected expressive rights is possible only because the language of the ATA is vague and overboard, casting a wide net of possibilities," they also said, referencing two of the most common arguments among the 37 petitions filed against the controversial law.

Similarly, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers President Edre Olalia on Thursday said that Parlade’s threat to Torres-Tupas only proves what petitioners have raised against the anti-terrorism law. “In a grotesque way, he is actually reinforcing and validating the myriad of objections and criticisms against the ATA." 

Carpio and his group's four-page manifestation, dated Feb. 5, 2021, is a replead of the manifestation they filed on Jan. 22, 2021, seeking the Office of the Solicitor General's written comment on another post made by Parlade which they said was a "clear threat" against petitioners of the anti-terror law.

— with a report from Kristine Joy Patag