DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 May) – Rights-based groups and a Mindanawon journalist on Thursday lauded the landmark decision of the Supreme Court favoring a victim of red-tagging, or tagging an individual a supporter of the communist insurgency.
In response to the High Tribunal’s decision, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately adopt measures to end the “red-tagging” of rights-based advocates in the country.
In a press statement, the group urged Marcos to hold liable government officials engaging in the practice of red-tagging, which the State has been using to harass, threaten, assault, or kill its critics.
On Wednesday, May 8, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in favor of activist and former Bayan Muna Party-List Representative Siegfred Deduro. It declared that “red-tagging, vilification, labelling, and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, or security,” which may be a ground to grant the petition for Writ of Amparo.
Carlos Conde, HRW senior Asia researcher, said the decision affirms that “red-tagging is a dangerous form of harassment that violates people’s rights.”
“This decision acknowledges the suffering of countless victims of this government policy,” he said.
Cong Corrales, editor in chief of the Cagayan de Oro-based Mindanao Gold Star Daily and a victim of red-tagging along with his family members, lauded the Supreme Court’s decision.
“My wife, my son, and I welcome the latest ruling of the categorizing red-tagging as a serious threat,” he said.
The en banc decision, penned by SC Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, reversed the decision of the Regional Trial Court in Iloilo in 2023 denying the petition of Deduro seeking for the issuance of a protective writ against Maj. General Eric C. Vinoya, the commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.
The Writ of Amparo provides a legal remedy to “any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.”
It also covers extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, or threats thereof.
Corrales, however, noted the Supreme Court decision “is not enough.”
“We challenge Congress to enact legislation that will criminalize red-tagging,” he stressed.
HRW said that red-tagged victims also include leaders and members of leftist activist groups and human rights organizations, as well as religious, Indigenous, and environmental groups.
The group noted that red-tagging intensified during the term of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte who issued Executive Order 70, creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).
Various rights-based groups in Mindanao have also lauded the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling.
Dr. Jean Lindo, chair of Gabriela Southern Mindanao, said the High Tribunal was “on the side of justice” when it ruled in favor of Deduro who, she said, was mistakenly labeled as a terrorist.
“In an environment that makes it extremely hard to push the Human Rights Defender Bill, the ruling should set a precedent for those in the same predicament as Deduro,” she added.
“Imagine what happens if you are designated as terrorist: there is a strong suggestion of dehumanization of activists, they will be deprived of their economic rights because their bank accounts and that of their family members will be frozen. Extrajudicial killing is the worst-case scenario for the (red-tagged) activists,” she added.
In a statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao (BAYAN-Southern Mindanao) said that State forces “demonized” Deduro and accused him of being a ranking member of the communist movement.
“The ruling affirms our consistent message that red-tagging and terrorist-labeling could lead to further political repression as evidenced by past and recent incidents of workers’ and human rights violations in Southern Mindanao and the rest of the country,” it said.
It said that trade union leaders Carlo Olalo and Melodina Gumanoy were subjected to “unrelenting intimidation” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines while activist William Lariosa was reportedly abducted and disappeared.
“Olalo, Gumanoy, and Lariosa, among other Mindanawon activists and human rights defenders, are targets of red-tagging and forcible surrender since the Duterte regime,” it added.
The group said the NTF-ELCAC must be abolished, their officials held accountable “for all the actions they have deliberately taken that violated fundamental rights and civil liberties.”
Leo XL Y. Fuentes Jr., regional coordinator of farmers’ group Masipag Inc., said that State forces weaponize “red-tagging, vilification, labelling, and guilt by association” to harass rights-based groups.
“We welcome the recent SC ruling, in particular the case of former Bayan Muna Rep. Siegfred Deduro. Legal remedies such as the Writ of Amparo is a step which civil society can seek especially with the shrinking democratic space,” he said.
He added that advocates defending the environment and calling for climate justice are now being “red-tagged and vilified” while others are treated as enemies of the State.
He said the decision was a welcome development and should remind judges to take Writ of Amparo petitions seriously as this involves a person’s right to life. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)