Bayan Muna slams NTF-ELCAC’s red-tagging spree

“This systematic red-tagging campaign using government resources is not only a blatant violation of election laws but also puts the lives of our candidates and supporters in danger.”

MANILA – Progressive partyl-ist group Bayan Muna denounced the massive red-tagging against them and other progressive party-list groups and candidates.

In a statement, former Bayan Muna representative and first nominee Neri Colmenares said that there are reports from various regions showing coordinated distribution of materials red-tagging Bayan Muna and other Makabayan bloc candidates. This, he said, is a clear violation of the Commission on Elections Resolution No. 11116 or guidelines on anti-discrimination and fair campaigning this election.

Read: Comelec urged to enforce red-tagging guidelines even on state forces

“This systematic red-tagging campaign using government resources is not only a blatant violation of election laws but also puts the lives of our candidates and supporters in danger,” Colmenares said in a statement.

Colmenares added that the nationwide black propaganda and red-tagging operations conducted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a desperate move to “prevent progressive voices from gaining seats in Congress because they know these representatives will hold them accountable for their abuses.”

Colmenares said that they have documented evidence of the coordinated operations. He said that they received reports of red-tagging and black propaganda in areas of Kalinga, Nueva Ecija, Mandaue City, Carbon Market, Cebu City, Malolos and Calumpit in Bulacan, San Fernando and Angeles in Pampanga, Lucena City, Quezon, Iloilo City, Antipolo City, Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City and other parts of Manila, Laguna, Marasbaras,Tacloban City, Cotabato City, Lagao, General Santos, and Cagayan de Oro, among many others.

“It is all over the country and is obviously coordinated,” Colmenares said. “Why are they so afraid of Bayan Muna winning? Why resort to black propaganda when the Comelec has explicitly prohibited this? They are spending people’s money on these desperate tactics. Are these public funds? Are they using intelligence funds?”

Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan expressed alarm over growing incidents of red-tagging, vilification, and outright attempts against progressive candidates, their campaigners, and supporters.

“Shady characters like retired Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, first nominee of United Frontliners Partylist; paid military agents Ariane Jane Ramos and Alma Gabin who have provided perjured testimonies in court to justify the unjust arrest and detention on trumped-up charges of activists like Frenchie Mae Cumpio; and Epanaw Sambayanan Party third nominee Jeffrey Celiz who is reportedly in Canada to serve as an attack dog against individuals who have sought refuge there from persecution in the Philippines and Filipino-Canadians critical of the Philippine government’s human rights record and politics—these red-taggers must be exposed for the opportunists that they are,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

She added that the sheer number of documented cases is appalling “prompting them to demand from the Comelec that it seriously enforce Resolution 11116.”

She also assailed the objection of the military and NTF-ELCAC agents including Arian Jane Ramos and Alma Gabin to Comelec Resolution 11116 “for allegedly being violative of their right to freedom of expression.”

Palabay said, “A Supreme Court ruling that red-tagging is a threat to life, liberty and security, however, means that red-tagging does not constitute protected speech, and therefore does not deserve a platform. In the context of elections, red-tagging has been described as disinformation enabling fraud and violence.” 

Palabay stressed that “red-tagging is a malicious practice that normalizes lies and threats of violence against progressive candidates and their supporters, terrorizing the people from getting to know the candidates’ platforms and advocacies and making informed choices on election day.”

“Red-tagging also sets the basis for poll violence, threats, harassment and intimidation, distorting the true will of the electorate. It must be stopped,” she added.

Meanwhile, Colmenares called on Comelec to act on what he described as illegal operations and hold accountable those responsible for “this flagrant abuse of government resources.”

“The people’s right to freely choose their representatives is being undermined by a state agency using taxpayer money to conduct black operations. This is not just election fraud—it’s a direct attack on our democratic processes,” Colmenares said. (DAA)

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