Bato says Lorenzana, Centino have disowned Parlade s statement

Senator Ronald dela Rosa said Tuesday that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and newly-installed Armed Forces chief Lieutenant General Andres Centino have disowned the statements made by former Army officer retired Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr. against Senator Bong Go.

During the continuation of the Senate plenary debates on the 2022 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon inquired about the “very serious statements” made by Parlade, who had accused Go of controlling President Rodrigo Duterte’s decisions, including those related to the AFP and the Department of National Defense.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, sponsor of the DND’s budget for 2022, said Lorenzana and Centino made it clear that the statements of Parlade are baseless.

“Before we proceed to the plenary, I was able to talk to the chief-of-staff, Gen. Centino and Secretary Lorenzana about that matter, Mr. President, and both of them vehemently deny the statements of General Parlade,” Dela Rosa said.

“They said that the statement of Gen. Parlade is his personal opinion and it does not in any way embody the position of the whole Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he added.

Dela Rosa reiterated Lorenzana’s statement on Monday night that Parlade’s remarks were “baseless.”

“Kung mayroon siyang basehan, he should have presented it to the public but as far as Gen. Lorenzana na nabanggit niya, Mr. President, and the AFP hierarchy, wala po silang masasabing basehan sa accusation ni Gen. Parlade,” he said.

(If his claims have basis, he should have presented it to the public, but as far as Gen. Lorenzana, whom he mentioned, Mr. President, and the AFP hierarchy, they can say that Gen. Parlade’s accusations are baseless.)

On Monday night, Lorenzana described Parlade’s remarks as “baseless.”

“Lt. Gen. Parlade’s statement is baseless,” Lorenzana said in a statement. “In the years I have known the President, he has always been his own man. The President stands by his own decisions, has always been firm in his directives to us, who are working for him, and is not as easily swayed or influenced by others as purported by the general.”

Go, for his part, has since dismissed Parlade’s claim, saying the President had already clarified that nobody controls him.

“Siya mismo ang nagsabi na hindi naman s’ya magiging Pangulo kung pinapaikot lang siya ng ibang tao.  Tanging siya ang gumagawa ng kanyang magagandang desisyon at tumutulong lang ako mula pa noon,” he said in a statement Monday.

(He himself said that he would not have become President if he is being controlled by other people. He is the only one who makes his good decisions and I have been helping him since then.)

Lying

At the latter part of the interpellation, Drilon asked Dela Rosa if the heads of the DND and the AFP think that Parlade is lying.

Dela Rosa, in response, said Lorenzana and Centino “cannot categorically” say if Parlade was lying, but they see the latter’s statement as a “personal opinion” that is “baseless.”

Nevertheless, Dela Rosa said the DND and the AFP respect the personal sentiment aired by Parlade. — RSJ, GMA News

Bato says Lorenzana, Centino have disowned Parlade s statement
Source: Filipino Viral News PH