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The minority bloc in the House of Representatives on Monday challenged the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) to bring cases against members of the Makabayan Bloc if there is evidence that they are communist rebels.
“You better file a case in court or shut up if you don’t have evidence,” House Minority Leader Stephen Paduano said of “surveillance” claims by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, a spokesman for NTF. -Elcac and head of the Southern Luzon Command.
Parlade has said that in addition to Bayan Muna’s president and human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, all members of the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives are also under state surveillance.
Legislators from the Makabayan bloc are members of the Minority.
The minority leader emphasized that “unless strong evidence is presented against any member of the House, it is the duty of the entire institution to defend any legislator against unfounded attacks.”
Paduano added: “His words can be used against him because state surveillance per se is illegal without a court order.”
He said that Section 3, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution establishes that the government and its agents can only carry out surveillance tasks by legal order of the court.
The Abang Lingkod Partylist representative also reminded Parlade that under the Anti-Terrorism Law, being a communist does not constitute a crime unless one has committed terrorist activity.
He said the controversial general’s attacks on the “left” are “illicit and incriminating.”
Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc condemned the continued surveillance and red tagging not only of Colmenares but also of the entire bloc.
“Once again, we reiterate our call to stop the red labeling of the Makabayan bloc, the harassment and surveillance of its officers and members because we are only defending human rights,” he added.
