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Constant red-tagging of activists confirms critiques of anti-terror law — peasant group

"The law does not aim to solve terrorism but will serve as legal arsenal against legal and democratic activists and organizations who oppose

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𝙍𝙚𝙙-𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘼𝙣 𝙀𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙢

𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘖. 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘛. 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘻

On 3 July 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020”, which replaces the Human Security Act of 2007. Under the law, persons who propose, incite, conspire, and participate in the planning, training, and facilitation is an offence under the act, as well as those who provide support to ‘terrorists’ as defined under the act, or recruit members of a ‘terrorist organization’, could face life imprisonment without parole. The law allows suspects to be detained without a judicial warrant of arrest for 14 days and can be extended by 10 more days, and placed under surveillance for 60 days, that can also be extended by up to 30 days, by the police or military.

This bill sparked many human rights advocates, as well as law experts to petition against the bill and why it should be junked for constitutional violations. 13 representatives were given a chance to challenge at least 23 sections of the bill in an oral argument according to a cover story by CNN Philippines (2021). The petitioners claim that the bill is vague to define what terrorism is and with phrases that are ambiguous that would enable malicious criminal prosecution of innocent rights-holders. They also challenged section 29 of the bill that allows warrantless arrest without charges of suspected terrorist for up to 24 days, emphasizing the dangers of leaving detained persons in the custody of arresting officers for extended periods of time. The petitioners would also argue on the sections on surveillance that it violates the people's rights to due process, privacy of communication, right against unreasonable searches and seizures, and especially their right to freedom of speech.

“The only way to break a protracted deadlock between the Philppine government and New People’s Army and end incidents of red-tagging through the peace process.”

But the thing is the military that is working within an organization namely the National Task Force that was said to end the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). However, it was said that these are just hidden fronts by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to tear down the open structures with a massive budget of P19 billion which openly shows the objective of the said organization.

The result is that the military are planting weapons and explosives in each case just to justify their arrest. A mother is in jail with her month old baby, elderly couple with health issues are shot to death just because they are resisting arrest. Seven union organizers and journalists are arrested. Resulting in the increasing cost of red-tagging.

According to human rights groups, government supporters and state authorities in the Philippines are increasingly using "red-tagging," a method in which individuals are labeled as communists or terrorists based on a lack of evidence.

It’s like they are making use of these people with the red-tagging method as a replacement to their unsolved or uncaptured members of NPA's, which is a huge problem in our country. It’s like an escape to say that there's progress regarding the problem.

And this red-tagging should be eliminated to stop the involvement of people. Being victims of crime and injustice treatment. In fact, according to an article by Rappler (2020), last October 21, 2020 it was stated that Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. who happened to be the commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Southern Luzon Command and spokesperson of the government-created (NTF-ELCAC) warned Filipino celebrity Liza Soberano in a Facebook post that she would “suffer the same fate” as Josephine Anne Lapira, who was killed in a clash in 2017 between government forces and alleged members of the communist New People’s Army.

“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” says Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr.

And this is all because the actress is supporting women rights organizations including the political party Gabriella. Parlade even said publicly that former and current Congressional representatives of progressive party-list groups, including Gabriela, are under surveillance for being “card-bearing members of the Communist Party of the Philippines” (CPP), adding that the anti-terror law is now “in effect”.

This kind of incitement and threat by Parlade shows how people of power can be quick to red-tag anyone who is affiliated with political groups even if the actress was only giving a talk about women empowerment at a seminar by Gabriela, a political party. This blatant action of red-tagging should be stopped as it endangers lives of innocent people who are only voicing out their concern against a certain problem that they encounter. If Liza, a known actress here in our country, is being red-tagged by the spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC, we can only imagine how many innocent activists are also being red-tagged just by joining rallies that voices out their concerns.

Furthermore, red-tagging has been going on for decades and intensified since the Duterte Administration. After the government and the CPP failed to reach an agreement in 2017, The NTF-ELCAC was established as a result of Duterte's following Executive Order (EO) 70, which calls for a "whole-of-nation approach in combating the Local Communist Terrorist Groups."

However, in the eyes of the observers or the people together with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights along with human rights organizations this led to renewed campaigns against red-tagging, the threats and harassment against human rights defenders, political activists, lawyers, and trade unionists. Expressing concerns to immediately end this kind of approach because of the increasing number of human rights violations caused by the government's dangerously broad counter-insurgency strategy.

Government authorities should cease from ‘red-tagging’ legitimate organizations, or branding them as “communist fronts” which, according to these organizations, have led to increased harassment and attacks by unknown individuals against them. Peaceful activists should not be targeted based on their political views. The authorities must also carry out a prompt, thorough, impartial and effective investigation into the killings, and bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the killings. They must take proactive steps to ensure, protect, and promote the human rights of defenders and activists in the country, and guarantee the right to an effective remedy and access to justice to victims and their families.

Accusations without a clear and strong basis are wrong and unjust. Activism is not terrorism. One does not need to be a communist to criticize and hold officials in the government accountable for their acts. One does not need to be a communist to assert the rights, and uphold the dignity, of the people. If the reckless red-tagging against activists, and private institutions continues, it becomes a threat to the rights of the people and even to our democracy. Red-tagging must not be used by our leaders against critics of the government. Public officials should instead face and accept criticism from the public. This is how they can address the real issues of our society.

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𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙙-𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨

𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘈. 𝘋𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘺 𝘈. 𝘖𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘯

In the Philippines, red-tagging refers to the malicious blacklisting of individuals and groups that are critical of or do not fully support the actions of a current government administration. Regardless of their real political ideas or affiliations, these personalities and entities are "labeled" as communists, terrorists, or both.

The practice goes back to the early 1950s in the Philippines, when affiliation in the Communist Party was outlawed, and to the McCarthy era in the United States, when Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy accused even US State Department officials of being communists based solely on his word. Associate Justice Marvic Leonen called red-baiting or “red-tagging” as "our version of McCarthyism" in his 2015 dissenting judgment on the Amparo petition filed by many members of party-list organizations before the Supreme Court, which was denied by the majority. On the other hand, in today’s governance, the Duterte administration despises the phrase "red-tagging," which refers to the deadly practice of accusing individuals and groups of being communist fighters. Assistant Solicitor General Marissa dela Cruz-Galandines said the word was "not coined by the administration" and was "used by the leftists."

Returning to the issue, many left-wing features are associated with terrorism as a result of this practice. It is now being used against healthcare professionals, activists, academics, students, and journalists, as per human rights activists. Thus according to amnesty international, the tagging craze has resulted in a rash of unlawful detentions and killings. From July 2016 to November 2019, Karapatan documented 293 extrajudicial killings carried out by the government of the counterterrorism effort, with 167 human rights advocates killed on average per week. Frustrated killings claimed the lives of at least 429 people. As per 2020-2021, attacks on leftist activists, community and Indigenous leaders, human rights defenders, and journalists have increased as a result of police, military, and unidentified gunmen.

In this day and age, Filipinos describe being red-tagged as a death sentence. Since there have been reports of extrajudicial killings of red-tagged people in broad daylight— members of the community cannot fight back in fear of being next on the list themselves. It’s getting increasingly harder to voice out national concerns or even do anything about them without being accused as a terrorist in military lists or even in social media posts without any cold-hard evidence.

Earlier in October last year, the legislation has passed the anti-terrorism act to address the welfare of national security against criminal terrorism. Only, the basis it is defined and penalized under threatens the safety of its inhabitants— undermining our very own constitutional rights with almost purposeful apathy. Even early this year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines made a display out of this specific concern— publicizing a list of suspected UP alumni and declaring them as either deceased or NPAs in hiding in their social media accounts— putting those on the list in danger and fear for their lives.

The recent enactment of the anti-terrorism law has further fueled this baseless finger-pointing, and is now allowing anyone and everyone to be labeled as a terrorist by resourceful and armed government enforcers. The aggressive implementation caused dire grievances to Filipinos, the supposed crimes ranging from harmless opinionated tweets, to opening up free community pantries in the midst of an economic crisis. This dangerous, and apparently— lawful behavior, ushers in yet another new level of disregard for the public. This impenitent imposition of the government will only lay the foundation for the unofficial tyranny the Philippine government is currently enacting on its citizens.

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𝙍𝙚𝙙-𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨

𝘑𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘩 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘰 𝘉. 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘪𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘻

Red-tagging within the Philippines refers back to the malicious blacklisting of people or agencies vital or now no longer completely supportive of the moves of a sitting authorities management within the country. These people and agencies are "tagged" as both communist or terrorist or both, irrespective of their real affairs of state or affiliations. It is a form of incitement and has pernicious results on its targets.

Malicious activities such as red-tagging continue to wreak havoc on our country, and the corrupt officials continue to thrive as the critics are being forcibly silenced. These unscrupulous members of the government are the masters of hiding their wrongdoings from the public when we think that we know them inside out. As a result, they continue to commit misconduct such as using the population’s taxes for their own benefit. They constantly rob people of their money because no one dares to open their mouths in fear that something unfortunate might arise. They don’t know if doom will come in their way if they speak up about the corruption and incompetence of the government that is supposed to lead us to change. From all of the terror that the public encounters, those inept government officials continue to be richer while the majority of our country is constantly getting more and more poverty-stricken. From their avaricious nature, they still seek different ways to censor the critics that damage their reputation. Their fragile ego can’t stand criticism. They even went as far as creating an organization known as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or NTF-ELCAC that has a history of red-tagging that enraged the public and harmed many critics and activists. Some of them succumbed to the red-tagging’s vicious fangs and eventually met their demise.

When ABS-CBN took a stand against red-tagging, it sparked a bright light within my heart and for many Filipinos that we will not be easily faltered and we will continue to fight the tyranny that we are currently experiencing. With their massive platform, they managed to open the eyes of so many people that our government doesn’t care for the welfare of the Filipinos. With that in mind, they eventually realized that harassing or killing people solely for the fact that they are against the government is never morally good. Imagine your loved one being allegedly accused of being a member of the New People’s Army or NPA. The police suddenly come rushing through your doors making a ruckus everywhere they search just to fabricate fake evidence that your loved one is actually a member. Eventually, they will take your relative to jail and they might experience torture simply because they are against the government. You wouldn’t like that, do you? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

If you want to get rid of the critics and activists, you should be listening to their demands and taking necessary action for the benefit of all. It’s not hard to lend an ear to the cries of the suffering Filipino people that are in desperate need of your help and guidance. Unfortunately, I have no hope that those will be done considering that the government officials here in the Philippines are a bunch of unprofessional individuals.

Actually, there have been several cases of red-tagging that have been reported this year. An example of this is the ‘Bloody Sunday” that brought despair to the people of Southern Tagalog this March. 9 activists were killed in this operation while 6 were arrested. This comes just two days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that communist insurgents be killed in all confrontations. Police said they were serving search warrants in their report, but progressive groups called them executions. Emmanuel "Manny" Asuncion, the secretary-general of BAYAN in Cavite and a well-known mass organizer in Southern Tagalog was among those executed. Chai Lemita Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista were also killed in the operations, according to labor rights group PAMANTIK-KMU.

This unpleasant activity sparked outrage among the people. Blood was shed on the floors of the victims’ houses. How can the police have the guts to show their faces and wear their uniform that they murdered innocent individuals? Those victims were only fighting for their rights since the Duterte regime took it away from them. They were helpless in defending themselves and yet the police took advantage of that and eventually slaughtered them. The members of the police were like puppets of the government that do their nefarious errands for them. I thought that the government would protect us all. I was absolutely incorrect. It seems that they have placed their egos as their top priority rather than creating a better environment for their citizens.

How can we possibly beat the tight grip of red-tagging if we are just going to stay silent? I know that there is danger lurking from every corner but that shouldn’t stop us from fighting for what’s right. Emmanuel Asuncion and Chai Evangelista are of the many activists that died at the hands of the police that are being controlled by puppeteers that we call the government. If human rights were human, they would be ashamed of the genocide done by the government under the guise of doing good, despite the fact that they pretend to be doing so. With another activist that fell in the hands of the government’s wrath, the nation will face a massive hit but we will eventually rise again if we work together to change the system. There will never be a day that we will stop fighting for justice. Red-tagging is the bane of the Philippines however we have a light in our hearts that will always manifest freedom.