Ahead Of Senate Inquiry, Here’s A List Of Individuals, Groups ‘Red-Tagged’ By The Gov’t Task Force

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has consistently accused critics of the government of being connected with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA), even before spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade drew flak for warning actress Liza Soberano that she “will suffer the same fate” of those killed in military encounters should she continue to associate herself with militant or left-leaning groups.

President Duterte created the NTF ELCAC through Executive Order No. 70, series of 2018, as part of a “whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace.” Its powers focus on the formulation of a “national peace framework” and ensuring its implementation in conflict-affected and vulnerable communities.

Through its Facebook page and official statements, the NTF ELCAC has slapped the labels “communists” and “terrorists” against several organizations that have spoken out against the government’s actions in various political issues.

The International Peace Observers Network (IPON) defines red-baiting as a “common strategy of state actors to intimidate and muzzle government-critical individuals, activists, human rights defenders as well as organizations who peacefully engage for their rights.”

“They are labeled as state enemies, communist terrorists or members of communist front organizations – labels that give rise to human rights violations in the Philippines,” IPON said in a 2011 journal.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights listed red-tagging among the numerous widespread human rights violations in its 26-page report to the UN Human Rights Council last June.

Media groups

Parlade, in his Oct. 26 interview with One News/ TV 5’s “The Chiefs,” complained that “maraming media personalities ang tumitira sa atin (many media personalities have been attacking us) because “infiltrated nila lahat ng media outfit natin (all our media outfits have been infiltrated).”

He claimed that the supposed infiltrators would start out as members of the youth groups College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) or the League of Filipino Students and then “eventually when they graduate and when they become media practitioners, they join National Union of Journalists of the Philippines” or NUJP. He cited as basis the word of alleged former “cadres.”

The NUJP cried foul about this latest remark and reminded Parlade that the burden of proof is on the accuser. It also raised alarm now that even senior news managers – whom Parlade did not name – were being dragged into his accusations.

The NUJP said this had the effect of “painting a virtual target on everyone who mans the country’s newsdesks and newsrooms. He has, in effect, slandered the whole industry.”

“But if Parlade thinks to intimidate media, including senior colleagues, with slander based on what amount to nothing but rumor and outright lies, there is no doubt Parlade will fail. The independent Philippine media are not called independent for nothing,” the NUJP declared.

This was not the first time that the NTF ELCAC connected negative media coverage to some conspiracy with the communist insurgents.

In several posts on its Facebook page last May, it broadly painted those opposing the Duterte administration’s shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp.’s free-to-air television and radio operations as part of an “OUSTDuterte move.”

Parlade in a May 12 statement specifically named ABS-CBN News online columnist Inday Espina-Varona as a cohort of the CPP and dared her to “expose herself some more.”

He claimed that the NUJP and the student organizations Union of Journalists of the Philippines–UP Diliman and the CEGP were “creations of the CPP itself.”

He also red-tagged alternative media websites focusing on marginalized sectors and progressive commentary, such as Bulatlat and Northern Dispatch, and outfits Altermidya Network, Kodao Productions, Tudla Productions, and Kilab Multimedia.

Northern Dispatch staff have consistently faced criminal complaints, especially from Cordillera Administrative Region police chief Brig. Gen. Rwin Pagkalinawan in connection with articles quoting him as ordering snipers to shoot suspected communists who would organize people amid the hardships of this year’s Luzon-wide lockdown.

Last May 12, Parlade in a statement warned ABS-CBN’s owners against courting support from media colleagues.

“The ABS CBN issue is about CPP propaganda, so it falls under NTF ELCAC's mandate. For so long as ABS owners, management and employees allow their issues to be exploited by the CPP NDF, yes you will continue to be persons of interest to us,” he said.

Makabayan bloc

Earlier on May 10, another NTF ELCAC spokesperson, Presidential Communications Operations Office Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy accused the following of ties to the communist movement: Bayan Muna, CEGP, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan, Christians for National Liberation, and Lupon ng mga Manananggol Para sa Bayan.

Non-profit research institution Ibon Foundation, Artista, and human rights groups Amnesty International Philippines and Karapatan were also targeted in the statement, which included the word “etc.”

The NTF ELCAC has also consistently attacked the Makabayan party-list bloc both through public statements and legal tactics.

The task force filed in May 2019 a petition asking the Commission on Elections to cancel the registration of Gabriela Women’s Party for allegedly accepting financial support from the government of Belgium and pursuing its goals through violence.

It cited the sworn statement of a certain Edison Coloma Villanueva attesting that the party-list uses its funds to procure firearms and ammunition for the CPP-NPA.

It was Soberano’s appearance in Gabriela Youth’s Oct. 13 webinar on the issues faced by young girls amid the coronavirus pandemic that triggered Parlade’s recent warning.

Several police stations, in various posts in their respective Facebook accounts especially around May and June, specifically identified Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Jane Elago and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate.

The Commission on Human Rights in its July 2020 Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines also detailed numerous instances of red-tagging of human rights activists.

Anti-Terrorism Act petitions

These instances of officially sanctioned targeting have been raised before the Supreme Court in many of the 37 petitions questioning the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), which President Duterte signed into law on July 3.

In their petition, retired Supreme Court (SC) associate justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales – also a former ombudsman – joined by University of the Philippines College of Law professors, pointed out that the ATA makes it easier for the government to detain and prosecute its critics on mere allegations.

Carpio pointed out that the President’s son, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, had implicated him in a supposed “Oust Duterte” plot. The President himself, Carpio noted, had accused him and his cousin Morales of escalating tensions with China by asserting the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

Former vice president Jejomar Binay, who joined the Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties in filing a petition against the ATA, compared red-tagging to the public hysteria whipped up by United States Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

In his newspaper column on Oct. 27, Binay called out Parlade, without mentioning him by name, as someone holding on to outdated ideas about dissent and refusing to abide by the principles of the Constitution.

“We have a general, the spokesperson of a government task force against communism, whose mindset is clearly frozen in the ideological wars of the 1960s. A cold warrior who is out of touch with present-day realities, who brooks no dissent, and who does not see the need to render obeisance to the principles of our Constitution,” Binay said.

“He is in effect saying that there are certain sectors of our society who are not entitled to Constitutional rights, and are guilty by mere accusation. He is signaling forces allied to this task force and its cause that since these sectors have no such rights, they are legitimate targets. By denying these persons their very humanity, he is inviting measures that are outside the bounds of the law,” he added.

Senate inquiry set

The Senate committee on national defense and security is set to conduct an inquiry into the issue of “red-tagging.” The first public hearing is set on Nov. 3.

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

The looming inquiry was prompted by a resolution filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee. He said the worrisome matter impinges on the Constitution, which mandates the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to serve as protector of the people, and on the implementation of the ATA.

“State agents, particularly, law enforcement agents and the military should be mindful and conscious in making public statements which directly or indirectly imply membership to insurgents or armed terrorist groups prior to a declaration, i.e. proscription of such group/s by the Court of Appeals after due process has been accorded to all parties involved with sufficient proof presented to establish membership therein, lest they be accused of violating the constitutional rights of the person involved,” Lacson’s Resolution No. 559 read.

The resolution also has "the end in view of crafting proper guidelines that will prevent misunderstanding between the public and the military and ensuring the protection of the constitutional rights of the people, thereby strengthening the confidence and trust of our people on the professionalism of our military in consonance with the constitutional edict that the AFP is the protector of the people and the state, and that civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military.”

The resolution, filed on Wednesday, Oct. 28, also cited the case of Armed Forces chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay on the use of the ATA to regulate social media.

After seeking the opinion of Senate President Vicente Sotto III on the Senate resolution, Lacson said "since it is in the exercise of the Senate’s oversight function, first reading in plenary may be waived, or not necessary."

In the resolution, Lacson cited the warning of SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on the threat posed by red-tagging and other similar forms of labeling to civil society and freedom of expression.

The senator told reporters in a videoconference also on Wednesday that the inquiry was meant to find out the “root of the matter when it comes to red tagging, red baiting, etc.”

He said he has on several occasions spearheaded forums on the ATA with the Philippine Army where Parlade belongs, the Philippine National Police, and other uniformed services, to clarify matters.

Lacson recalled that Parlade and Gapay had clarified with him their previous statements, saying they were not knowledgeable of the law until after attending the forums the senators had conducted.

"Lt. Gen. Parlade strikes me as one AFP officer who is dedicated to the accomplishment of his mission to end the half-century-old insurgency problem. That being said, his only fault is that he overanalyzes and overtalks, with some of his public statements threatening to affect his mission," Lacson said on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Under the ATA, Lacson underscored that "only the court can proscribe a group like the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization. On the other hand, the purpose of surveillance work is defeated when the subject becomes aware that he is being tailed."

"Maybe a little prudence and self-discipline on Lt. Gen. Parlade’s part will help," Lacson said.

On Wednesday, Lacson disclosed that “We will summon the AFP leadership, even the DND (Department of National Defense), particularly si Lt. Gen. Parlade. We will also invite Gabriela and other militant groups para maliwanagan natin saan nag-uugat ang misunderstanding and conflict pagdating sa red-tagging and red-baiting, etc.”

“No (celebrities will be invited). Ang groups lang, but anybody can attend, maski hindi invited. Ayaw natin ma-distract. You can just imagine if we invite celebrities and there’s a good number of them. Baka ma-distract, mawala ang focus natin sa issue at hand. Baka focus natin mapunta sa mga celebrities.”

Various groups, several senators, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and other congressmen have assailed Parlade’s red-tagging.

Actress Angel Locsin, who was among those red-tagged, launched a campaign against such move on social media with the hashtags “NoToRedTagging” and “YesToRedLipstick” accompanied by her statement denying her and her family members’ alleged links to the NPA.

Parlade had said Locsin’s sister Ella Colmenares had joined the NPA in Quezon. Colmenares denied the accusation and slammed Parlade.