Just An Actress? Liza Soberano Caught In The Crossfire After Appearance In Militant Youth Group’s Forum

Popular actress Liza Soberano found herself in the middle of a controversy following her appearance in the forum “Mga Tinig ni Nene: Reclaiming Our Voices on the International Day of the Girl Child” organized by the militant Gabriela Youth group on Oct. 13.

Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, spokesperson for the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Insurgency (NTF-ELCAC), received flak for “red-tagging” the actress and other celebrities, but Malacañang said the military is only worried that they might be used to push for the leftists’ agenda.

Parlade was apparently alarmed that a celebrity as famous as Soberano is being associated with the group that he alleged is under the Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA) of the communists hiding behind Gabriela Women’s Party.

He said MAKIBAKA is luring celebrities for their underground organization.

Parlade has been criticized for “red-tagging” or linking to the communist movement personalities who speak up against the government. Among celebrities, he also alluded to Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and actress Angel Locsin for supposedly being sympathetic to the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“Liza Soberano, there’s still a chance to abdicate that group. If you don’t, you will suffer the same fate as Josephine Anne Lapira,” Parlade said in a statement posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Lapira was a former deputy secretary general of Gabriela Youth. Parlade described her as a “defender of women’s rights, even against sexual predators amongst her comrades in the NPA unit she joined which is clearly stated in her handwritten letter addressed to a certain @EMIL.”

Lapira, a 22-year-old student of the University of the Philippines-Manila, was killed in what was reported to be an encounter between communist rebels and government forces in Batangas in November 2017.

“It’s a pity she learned about (nonsense) things like nabbing a firearm, exploitation while already inside the underground. It was too late, she is dead,” Parlade warned.

Parlade noted that Soberano is “not yet” a member of the NPA and should be educated instead.

 “Let us not red-tag Liza Soberano. It’s not fair to her. She is merely supporting advocacy for women’s rights. She has to be protected in the exercise of her rights. Is she an NPA? No, of course not. Not yet,” Parlade said.

 Soberano was red-tagged by a vlogger and trolls on social media.

 “So, (Gabriela party-list) Rep. Arlene Brosas and Gabriela, shame on you if you haven’t informed your recruits about your hidden violent agenda,” he declared. “The choice is yours Liza. And so with you Catriona.”

 Parlade called on Soberano and Gray not to “follow the path” of Locsin’s sister “Ka Ella Colmenares” who he said joined the NPA in Quezon. “I am sure Angel Locsin and Neri Colmenares will not tell you this.”

 Former Bayan Muna party-list congressman Neri Colmenares is an uncle of the Locsin sisters.

 Teddy Casiño, also a former Bayan Muna party-list representative, tweeted that the “Ella Colmenares I know is Angel Locsin’s sister. She is definitely not an NPA nor in the underground. Looks like Parlade is going to be in deep sh*t. Again.”

 In an Instagram story, Locsin also poked fun at Parlade for saying her sister had gone underground by sharing a photo of them with other members of their family. “A man calling out a woman on how she would advocate women’s rights. How 1920s,” she wrote in another Instagram story.

 Apolitical

 The comments of Parlade did not sit well with Soberano’s camp. Netizens were also quick to defend her, Gray and Locsin from the military general’s tirade.

 “We denounce in the strongest terms the ‘red-tagging’ of our client, Ms. Liza Soberano, in some social media platforms. Expressing her love and respect for women and children is her personal advocacy,” lawyer Juanito Lim said in a statement first posted on ABS-CBN News on Thursday, Oct. 22.

 “She does not support nor antagonize any person’s political views. The important point here is respect for others, a virtue she has consciously (practiced) all her life,” Lim added.

 Lim also appealed to “everyone concerned to be circumspect in associating our client with their respective political beliefs, whatever it may be.”

 Parlade criticized

 Brosas said Parlade maliciously associated the actress with the armed movement when she only spoke up for victims of gender-based violence and abuse.

 “How come these macho-fascists have the audacity to mansplain strong women and lecture them on what to do? And why do they seem so afraid of women using their platform to defend other women?” she asked.

 The Concerned Artists of the Philippines also condemned Parlade’s  “shameful example of red-tagging.”

 “This leap of logic is not a statement of concern for Liza’s rights. It is another way of intimidation and red-tagging, plain and simple. Parlade should retract his statement and apologize immediately to Liza Soberano, Catriona Gray, Gabriela Youth, the Colmenares sisters Ella and Angel, Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Gabriela Women’s Party – all those who he enumerated as women to watch out for,” Lisa Ito, secretary general of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines said.

 Netizens also took to social media platforms and launched the hashtags #ProtectLizaSoberano and #ProtectCatrionaGray following Parlade’s statement.

 Sen. Risa Hontiveros slammed Parlade and urged him not to use his power as a military general to frighten and threaten women who are speaking out on different advocacies.

 “When you sat in front of me during your appointment hearing, you were like a lamb. I gave you the benefit of the doubt during your promotion hearing because I believed that, just like my late husband Frank, you abide by the motto of the PMA: courage, integrity and loyalty,” Hontiveros noted, referring to the Philippine Military Academy and her husband Francisco Baraquel Jr. who died of a heart attack in 2005.

 Hontiveros said Parlade should not be a party to those who commit violence, rape and other abuses against women.

 “Your threats and harassment are unacceptable. By silencing them, pinapalampas mo ang karahasan, panggagahasa at pang-aabuso na nararanasan ng napakaraming Pilipino. This is a shame to your rank and to the PMA,” Hontiveros added.

 Hontiveros said she started as a young advocate for women’s rights and married a military man, raising a family of four with him. She warned Parlade that she would not let this incident pass and would remember it the next time he faced the Commission on Appointments, which approves military promotions.

 “We betray the integrity of our military, and especially our women and children by allowing abuses of power like this to happen. We will not forget this. Tatandaan ko ang lahat ng mga ito at paghandaan mo ang susunod nating paghaharap sa Commission on Appointments. Hindi ko ito kayang palampasin,” Hontivero declared. “See you in the next round.”

 Hontiveros told Soberano and Gray that it is their constitutional right to speak up.

 “Don’t be afraid. Patuloy niyo lang panindigan ang karapatan niyong magsalita. Kasama niyo ako at karamihan sa ating mamamayan. I salute and embrace you,” Hontiveros said.

 “It is difficult and painful to be at the frontlines fighting beside persons oppressed by a norm that advocates rape, murder and exploitation. But every time you speak up, another girl becomes braver and another life is saved. I’m behind you every step of the way,” she added.

 Sen. Francis Pangilinan, for his part, said the military’s red-tagging of Soberano, Gray, Locsin and other activists is baseless and endangers their lives and security.

 “Ano ba ’yan? Nakipagkwentuhan lang si Liza, binantaan na ng kamatayan. Siya na nga ang binastos at binantaan ng rape, tatakutin pa?” he said.

 Pangilinan called on the police and military, especially high-ranking authorities, to stop labeling and red-tagging those who responsibly air their views about Philippine society.

 “Ayon sa Saligang Batas, ang Armed Forces of the Philippines ang magtatanggol sa taumbayan, hindi maniniil. Protector, not oppressor. These threatening statements are uncalled for and unprofessional and should be called out,” he emphasized.

 Pangilinan himself and his daughter Frankie have been red-tagged for shouldering the bail of those who were arrested for lining up for food rations and violating lockdown restrictions in Quezon City.

 “Advocates and progressives must not be mistaken for communists and terrorists. They speak to express and to empower. Paano naman naging komunista si Liza eh nagtatanong lang siya tungkol sa mga abuso na nararanasan ng ating mga kabataan at kababaihan?” he said.

 Pangilinan rallied the people to support the actress and other individuals who are not afraid to ask questions on what is happening around them and to offer solutions.

 “Hindi krimen ang magpahayag ng opinyon kung paano mapabuti ang Pilipinas,” he said.

 In defense of Parlade

 For Malacañang, Parlade’s remarks on Soberano and Gray were merely a reminder to be careful about attempts by leftists to exploit their advocacies.

 “Pinag-iingatan lang nila sila na baka mamaya magamit sila ng Left (He was just asking them to be careful because they might be used by the Left),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing on Thursday.

 “The military understands that they are advocating the rights of women. But of course, be careful also because the Maoists in the Philippines, if they can exploit something, they would exploit it,” he added.

 Roque, however, clarified that the administration does not have any issue with the comments of Soberano and Gray because President Duterte is also pushing for the rights of women.

 “His track record is clear especially when he was mayor of Davao City,” Roque said, referring to Duterte.

 Here is the transcript of Soberano’s statements, published by ABS-CBN News after the forum on Oct. 13 wherein she became emotional and broke into tears.

 “My experience with this is during the pandemic, a lot of tragedies and hardships were happening not only to women and children, but a lot of people in general. Not just in the Philippines, but in the whole world.

 “There was one day [when] I came across a tweet by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, talking about the increase in online sexual exploitation of children during the pandemic because of the access to internet, and the lack of awareness that this is an issue that has been going on in the Philippines for the longest time.

 “I know that I haven’t been the most vocal about my opinions and about the advocacies that I feel very strong for, because I was always afraid that I would be dividing my supporters. I was afraid of creating conflict.

 “Ang paniniwala ko po dati na ’pag artista ka, dapat umiiwas ka sa lahat ng issues. Dapat we just keep talking about our craft, and the next movie we’re making and everything. Kasi, I was afraid that people would judge me. They would say, what do I know, I’m just a girl, I’m just an actress.

 “But then I realized, especially, most recently when there was someone who made a sexual abuse comment towards me… I realized the impact of me standing up for myself, especially after I filed a criminal case against somebody who made a rape joke against me.

 “A lot of my supporters – actually I think there were five – messaged me and were saying, ‘Thank you.’ Honestly, I cried when they sent me those messages, because I didn’t realize how many women were struggling to stand up for themselves.

 “Sorry, I get kind of emotional – because I’ve had the experience –  not firsthand experience. I’m actually privileged and blessed to have – I’m getting so emotional. Sorry.

 “I know a lot of women in my life who had struggled with this. And I find it so unfair that we women have to go out every day with fear of being catcalled, of dressing a certain way and getting called out for the way we’re dressed.

 “I fear that my nieces and future children won’t be able to go out into a safe environment. That’s why I find it so important to start spreading awareness to the future generations, as early as now, so that we can create a better future for everyone.

 “The norm of society has conditioned women and children to stay quiet when dealing with hardships and struggles, because nobody is going to do anything anyway. Yet why do they also expect us women, and children, to remain resilient through these struggles?

 “Change cannot be just the responsibility of the people who need it most. They need the support of everyone, especially those of the highest power, if we are to see true change.

 “As a woman, as a Filipino artist, I think that women and influencers alike should start speaking up. They can contribute not only awareness about these issues, but also encouragement and confidence to our fellow women and children – that they need to learn to stand up for themselves.

 “I know it’s easier said than done and not all of us have the luxury or the confidence or power or support system to do so. But based on my own experience, when I saw more and more of my friends starting to speak up about issues that mattered to them – like Ate Angel Locsin, or even my idols Angelina Jolie and Emma Watson – it empowers me and it gives me the courage to start speaking up about these issues, too. Because they matter, and we need to start seeing change in the world.” – With Alexis Romero