Red labeling of a cover-up for ‘incompetence’ – Makabayan

President Rodrigo Duterte’s red label on left-wing members of the House of Representatives and activist groups endangers their lives and is intended to cover up his “incompetence” in solving the problems created by the pandemic and recent typhoons, the bloc said Tuesday. of the Makabayan Congress.

Duterte on Monday night accused Makabayan of being a front for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). He also said that the representative of Bayan Muna, Carlos Zárate, looked like “dog poop.”

Zarate, in an online press conference on Tuesday, said he would not respond to the president’s insults because “it will divert the public from the real problems of the country.”

“We believe that all of this is intended to cover up the incompetence and the major problems in the country now and they are trying to paralyze and silence us, especially in our active role as legislators in Congress,” he said.

Apart from Bayan Muna, the progressive bloc includes the party-list groups Gabriela, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Kabataan and Anakpawis.

Nothing wrong with leftist

Also reacting to the president’s latest statements, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said that red labeling would endanger lives.

Jacqueline de Guia, a spokeswoman for the CHR, said there was nothing wrong with identifying herself politically as a leftist, a constitutionally guaranteed freedom.

“The CHR doesn’t really delve into who is a communist or not. That is something that we are clear about. We would just like to warn the government not to make radical generalizations, ”he said in a television interview.

‘Fewer priorities’

“There is no express statement from our courts about who the terrorists are. We have warned the government against the red label to people who have not clearly taken up arms, and there must be a clear delineation between the people who have joined the armed combat and those who have not, “he added.

In a statement, Representative Gabriela, Arlene Brosas, said the president’s “useless tirades” and “incoherent tirades” against Makabayan were a “pathetic ploy to mask the government’s inaction against the worsening crisis.”

“President Duterte demonstrates that providing socio-economic aid and programs amid the pandemic and the series of typhoons is the least of his priorities. Accusing us of being fronts for the CPP-NPA will not change the fact that their incompetence has intensified the crisis we face today, ”Brosas said.

She said that by making “these baseless accusations, Duterte is playing judge, jury and executioner by putting the law in his own hands.”

“It practically gave the green light to more extrajudicial executions, human rights violations and illegal arrests, not only against activists but against those who seek governance reforms through parliament and issue legitimate criticism,” Brosas said.

The CCP has led the half-century insurgency, fueled by decades of economic, social and political injustice.

‘No evidence’

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) General Secretary Renato Reyes called Duterte “chief tagger”, who had no evidence to back up his allegations.

“He should be held accountable for every activist who was killed, imprisoned, tortured or disappeared, and why many reject him as well,” Reyes said.

Pamalakaya, a group of fishermen often linked by state forces to the rebels, criticized the “McCarthyite practice” of communist labeling led by the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

“Red labeling is unfounded but dangerous and deadly, simply put,” said the group’s president, Fernando Hicap.

Extrajudicial executions, disappearances, illegal or arbitrary arrests, detentions, false or forced deliveries form a pattern of human rights violations that has already been denounced on multiple occasions as an unfounded campaign of vilification against critics of the government, according to Cristina Palabay, Secretary General for Humanities. Karapatan human rights group.

On September 28, UN Special Rapporteurs Mary Lawlor, Agnes Callamard, Balakrishnan Rajagopal and Elizabeth Broderick communicated their concerns to the Philippine government about the “extremely disturbing trend” of public threats against human rights defenders by high-level officials. .

“These forms of political repression and attacks against dissidents must stop. These not only lead to a worse climate of impunity in the country: these acts of State terrorism also seek to cover up the incompetence, negligence and irresponsible governance of the administration, ”said Palabay.

‘Legal fronts of CPP’

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte only wanted to expose the lies of activist groups when he called them legal fronts of the CPP.

Roque acknowledged that belonging to the Communist Party was not a crime, but said the problem was that the CPP could not separate itself from the NPA, which is dedicated to the crime of rebellion and murder of civilians and the military.

Members of militant groups should declare themselves communists, but they should condemn the use of weapons against the government, he said.

“They are good at parliamentary politics, they are elected, they have the most groups of party lists. Why don’t they give up the use of weapons? That is all that is required. As long as they have not renounced it and are involved in the use of violence and weapons against the republic, that is criminal, ”he said.

“All we ask is that you can be a red without necessarily endorsing the use of weapons,” he added.

But critics have repeatedly warned that red labeling violates the right to presumption of innocence and the right to due process, and is intended to discourage activism and critical thinking.

Reasons to resist

The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) said that while the Makabayan bloc did not participate in the armed struggle, it was still clear that the roots of the armed conflict “are concrete and remain unresolved.”

“Who are the ones who voluntarily deprive our farmers, workers and national minorities of their land and livelihood? Who is responsible for the interruption of the peace talks? It is the state led by Duterte and it has always been Duterte who gives the people reasons to resist, ”said Jandeil Roperos, national president of NUSP.

The group said the government provided a hefty P19.1 billion budget for NTF-Elcac rather than using the money to provide aid to victims of recent calamities and those displaced by the pandemic.

“In the midst of a global health crisis and calamities that plague our country and leave many Filipinos hungry, unemployed and suffering from the limitations of being able to enjoy basic social services, Duterte is more adamant in going after Filipinos to strengthen their tyrannical government, ”said NUSP. .

–With reporting from Leila B. Salaverria, Krixia Subingsubing and Meg Adonis

Read next