Makabayan files poll raps vs NTF-Elcac exec for Red-tagging
Makabayan leaders and candidates filed on Tuesday an election offense complaint in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against the top official of the government’s anti-insurgency task force for what they described as series of Red-tagging and defamatory statements aimed at the coalition and its candidates during the campaign period.
The coalition led by senatorial candidate Liza Maza said Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., executive director of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), committed “acts of harassment, disinformation, and vilification aimed at silencing dissent and influencing the outcome of the elections.”
“NTF-Elcac has once again weaponized public office and taxpayer funds to promote baseless accusations and undermine legitimate electoral participation,” said Maza, a former Gabriela party-list representative and former head of the government’s antipoverty commission.
Joining Maza as complainants were Makabayan senatorial candidates and incumbent party list representatives Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and France Castro (ACT Teachers), Moro leader Amirah Lidasan, Bayan Muna party list nominee Ma. Kristina Conti and Makabayan cochair and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel.
They alleged that Torres violated multiple provisions of the Omnibus Election Code and Comelec Resolution No. 11116 on fair campaigning.
Under the resolution, “labeling” groups and individuals as terrorists, dissenters and criminals without evidence is considered an election offense.
They said Torres committed Red-tagging and false accusations without basis by linking Makabayan groups and candidates to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The complaints also alleged that Torres used government platforms and funds to disseminate partisan propaganda against electoral candidates and disseminated false information and black propaganda during the campaign period.
‘Familiar pattern’
In a statement sent to the Inquirer on Tuesday, Torres said the NTF-Elcac was no longer surprised that the Makabayan bloc had once again singled out the task force, “this time training their sights on me.”
“Unfortunately for them, the Filipino people can already see through this overly familiar pattern: vilify the institution that dares to expose the links that bind supposedly ‘legal organizations and individuals’ to the [CPP-NPA-NDFP] by painting themselves as victims, propagating divisive rhetoric and exploiting our democratic processes,” Torres said.
The NTF-Elcac, according to him, “is not in the business of fabricating allegations.”
“Our statements are based on facts, not far-flung fantasy,” he said, noting that the task force has testimonies and declarations from former CPP-NPA-NDFP cadres and former Makabayan bloc members “who have come forward to attest to the ideological, political, and organizational linkages between these groups.”
The Makabayan complaint cited a March 16 press release published on the NTF-Elcac’s official website and Facebook page, which accused Brosas and the Makabayan bloc of being aligned with “communist terrorists,” and described their call to abolish NTF-Elcac as “opportunistic politicking.”
“The post, which reached thousands of online users before being taken down from Facebook, incited hate speech, including calls for violence against Makabayan candidates,” it said.
According to Maza, the harassment that Makabayan leaders and members, campaign volunteers and supporters face due to NTF-Elcac’s Red-tagging were not limited to online attacks but are felt on the ground during the campaign.
“As we went around to campaign in Cagayan Valley, Mindoro, Bicol, Cagayan de Oro and other places, posters tagging Makabayan and its candidates as communists were widespread. In the town of Pola in [Oriental] Mindoro, we were not allowed to enter a barangay to campaign. In Cagayan Valley [region], fabricated charges were filed against those campaigning for Makabayan,” Maza said.
“Wherever we went, we were followed by military agents. This is clearly intimidation, repression, and a violation of our right to campaign peacefully and present our platforms to the public,” she added.
But Torres said the March 16 statement cited in Makabayan’s complaint did not incite violence but issued a challenge.
“A challenge for Makabayan leaders to finally and unequivocally denounce the terrorism, extortion, and recruitment perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDFP,” he said. “But they never have, and judging by their actions, they never will. Instead, they mischaracterize firm, factual language as harassment while excusing or sanitizing the real threats coming from the armed insurgency.”
Seeking penalties
Maza asked the Comelec to impose criminal and administrative penalties against Torres and to order the immediate removal of the Red-tagging content still posted on official government platforms.
Comelec Chair George Garcia earlier said that a complaint for Red-tagging would “not be very difficult” for the poll body to rule on as it would use the Supreme Court’s ruling as “guidance.”
In a 2023 decision (G.R. No. 254753, Deduro v. Vinoya), the high court declared that Red-tagging, vilification, labeling and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty or security.
