(UPDATE) RETIRED general Antonio Parlade Jr. has refuted claims that National Security Adviser Eduardo Año was part of a supposed "core group" that plotted the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, saying the former Armed Forces chief "has always operated based on duty, not political vendetta."

Parlade, a former commander in Southern Tagalog and a longtime intelligence practitioner, vouched for Año's integrity and patriotism, calling him a "professional soldier" whose loyalty to the republic was "beyond reproach."

"We were battalion commanders together in Southern Tagalog at the height of [the] insurgency," Parlade said, recalling his close working relationship with Año.

"This is the reason why we are successful with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) — because I knew how he fought to push the agenda: End Communist Armed Conflict," he said.

Año, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a key figure in the crushing of the Maute terrorist group in the Battle of Marawi, is currently vice chairman of the NTF-Elcac and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s national security adviser.

Under Año's leadership in the AFP and NTF-Elcac, numerous top communist leaders have been neutralized, significantly weakening the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-New People's Army.

"Focus! Let us not lose sight of the enemy," Parlade said. "And the enemy is not the government as a whole. The enemy is the CPP and their tentacles in government."

"To accuse Secretary Año of disloyalty to the former President is rather unfair. We owe so much to this person why this nation has survived to this day," he said.

The controversy stemmed from an earlier allegation that Año was involved in a plan to arrest Duterte, as wrongfully stated by Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Remulla himself corrected the claim during a recent Senate hearing.

"History will judge this nation [for] how we treated the architect for the downfall of the CPP," Parlade said. "But I know Secretary Año is not part of its planners."

He stressed the need for unity in government, quoting former associate justice Antonio Carpio: "There must be teamwork in government so that the forces of evil seeking to destroy our democracy do not prevail."