CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 12 November) —The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started its inquiry on red-tagging in Mindanao, where dozens of individuals and organizations have been labeled as communist members or sympathizers without substantial evidence.
CHR Commissioner Beda Epres said the inquiry is being done on the basis of the July 4, 2023 Supreme Court ruling, which declared “red-tagging as a threat to people’s life, liberty and security.”
About a hundred individuals or organizations were expected to share their gripping stories of harassment from state forces to the two-day closed-door CHR inquiry held at a downtown hotel here on Monday, November 11, and Tuesday.
Many testimonies were made online by respondents due to security and financial reasons. Only four witnesses came to present their testimonies, according to a CHR staff member who asked not to be identified.
The CHR had already completed its investigation in Luzon and the Visayas. Mindanao is the final leg of its nationwide investigation on red-tagging
CHR-Region 10 director Jeanne Abrina said the agency will come up with their final report on red-tagging after collating all the testimonies.
“This is too organized and well-funded not to be state-sponsored,” lawyer Beverly Selim-Musni, a member of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, said.
She was referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which was created by former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Musni and her daughter, Charina, also a human rights lawyer, was subjected to red-tagging—their pictures plastered in posters and tarpaulins distributed all over Cagayan de Oro City and several towns in Misamis Oriental.
During the inquiry last Monday, Musni said the CHR commissioners were able to hear testimonials of red-tagging against individuals and organizations, including an LGBTQIA+ organization in Zamboanga City and farmers protesting against a palm oil corporation that allegedly forcibly took over their lands in Agusan del Sur.
“The LGBT(QIA+) organization was red-tagged for organizing beauty and makeup classes among gays. That is how ridiculous they are,” Musni said.
In her case, Musni said she was shocked to see her picture on a pamphlet labelling her as a communist sympathizer being distributed outside a church in Cagayan de Oro City.
Cong Corrales, editor-in-chief of Mindanao Gold Star Daily, said that journalists are not spared by the red-tagged bullying by the AFP and the PNP.
Cagayan de Oro-based Gallardo, the author of this article, was also a victim of red-tagging.
Corrales, who is frequently being tagged as a communist sympathizer, narrated how he and other journalists were red-tagged after they staged a protest rally against the closure of TV station ABS-CBN in 2020.
“When we got back to the ABS-CBN station, we found a funeral wreath with my name and other journalists on it. Later, flyers were also distributed around the city,” he said.
Corrales said red-tagging can have a chilling effect that impact journalists and their ability to report freely, especially if they are vilified in public.
“Red-tagging sends a message to journalists that covering sensitive issues can jeopardize their lives, their families and reputation,” Corrales told the CHR investigators.
Among those invited by the CHR was the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the Philippine Independent Church, whose bishops and clergy were among the most red-tagged individuals in Mindanao. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
