‘VILIFICATION’ | Red-tagging stifles freedom of opinion in the Philippines, says NGO

January 26, 2024 , 12:04 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(January 26, 2024) – The practice of red-tagging from state agents against activists and civil society actors have stifled the public’s freedom of opinion, a non-government organization said on Friday as a United Nations (UN) rights expert toured the Philippines.

Economic think tank IBON Foundation said it submitted a report to UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan, where the group raised concerns that the Philippine government’s anti-terrorism infrastructure has been “abused to justify violent and abusive measures against progressives.”

“The government’s attacks on IBON and activists aim to stifle critical analysis and the public forming opinions in an informed and reasoned manner,” IBON said in a statement.

“The harassment and vilification of progressive organizations and of IBON in particular, a research group, impinges on the plurality and diversity of information sources for the public to choose from.”

Khan had meetings with various government agencies and civil society groups during her visit to Manila from January 23 to February 2, aimed at assessing the country’s mechanisms to protect freedom of opinion and expression.

To recall, IBON Foundation filed one of the more than dozen lawsuits against former Palace official Lorraine Badoy and other government officials for their red-tagging, the practice of linking civilian activists and civil society actors to the armed Communist rebellion.

In IBON’s administrative complaint, they accused Badoy, retired Army general Antonio Parlade Jr, and former national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon of “malicious abuse of authority and negligent performance of duties as public officials.” Badoy and Parlade were formerly spokespersons of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Before this, Badoy accused IBON of links to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) during an episode of One News’ The Chiefs in 2020. This came after the think tank fact-checked some data brought up in the “Duterte Legacy” campaign that touted accomplishments under the then-president Rodrigo Duterte.

Local and international human rights organizations have expressed concerns that the increasing incidents of red-tagging in the Philippines have led to harassment, attacks and in some cases killings.

IBON Foundation urged the government to publicly acknowledge, condemn, and stop the practice of red-tagging and hold accountable the people that have spread false information and incited violence against civil society actors.

The group also pressed the government to issue an official apology and retract instances of red-tagging on government websites.

“Continued government attacks on those with critical views only sends the message that it is fearful of the people becoming critically informed and politically active,” IBON said.

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