Lawyers turn to SC to denounce courtroom red-tagging

MANILA — Even lawyers get red-tagged.

A pending case before a Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Metro Manila identified the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) as part of “underground mass organizations and front organizations.” This was submitted as evidence in the court proceedings.

Exposing this act of endangering NUPL which mainly represents activists and marginalized sectors, the lawyers’ group submitted a formal letter to the Supreme Court (SC) on December 5. 

“The courtroom must not become a platform for the wholesale laundering of harmful state rhetoric under the guise of evidence,” NUPL said in the letter, stressing that red-tagging now extends to formal judicial spaces.

The document in question was from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Aside from NUPL, other grassroots organizations from various sectors were also red-tagged.

“This incident must not be viewed in isolation. It reflects a broader and escalating pattern of red-tagging by state actors and their agents, including repeated vilification of NUPL lawyers as “communist terrorists,” NUPL said.

On April 21, 2023, SMNI News interviewed Joas Sergio, then spokesperson of the NTF-ELCAC Legal Cooperation Cluster, vilifying and red-tagging lawyers NUPL lawyers Edre Olalia, Jobert Pahilga, Kristina Conti, Sol Taule, Carlos Zarate, and Neri Colmenares.

A separate Facebook post showing a 16th-century painting of a corrupt judge being skinned alive was shared with a caption: “This ought to be done here — for judges and lawyers who give cover to the CPP NPA NDF. Hello, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.”

Even former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. implied in an official statement that NUPL is a front organization of the underground movement. NUPL said that these incidents are not merely rogue public statements but an orchestrated campaign to portray human rights lawyers and organizations as enemies of the state.

“This kind of official discourse institutionalizes red-tagging, transforming it into a sanctioned practice framed as patriotic duty, while silencing critics and dissenters as threats to national security,” NUPL said. 

Last year, the SC already declared that red-tagging and vilification threaten a person’s right to life, liberty or security, justifying the issuance of writ of amparo. “As being associated with communists or terrorists makes the red-tagged person a target of vigilantes, paramilitary groups, or even State agents, it is easy to understand why a person may fear that being red-tagged puts their life and security at risk,” the SC wrote.

By introducing the red-tagging document in the RTC case, NUPL stressed that the lawyer formerly associated with NTF-ELCAC may have violated provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) ranging from abetting falsehood and baseless imputing misconduct to fellow lawyers (Section 10 and 13, Cannon II), harassment (Section 6, Canon II), misleading courts (Section 8 Canon II), improper influence (Section 3, Canon I), and upholding lawyers’ responsibility and accountability (Section 2, Canon III).

The group called on the SC to take note of the new act of red-tagging committed by the NTF-ELCAC within the context of a pending civil case; to adopt concrete protection mechanism for lawyers under threat based on international standards; and to convene a national dialogue between the bench, the bar, and civil society organizations to formulate institutional safeguards.

“We respectfully urge the Judiciary to remain vigilant against any attempt to weaponize its processes, and to affirm, through concrete protection measures, that the courts remain safe spaces for all litigators, advocates, and those who seek justice,” NUPL said in their press conference. (DAA)

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