2 MIN READ

By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — A rights group said findings from a Commission on Human Rights (CHR) inquiry on red-tagging support calls to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and review anti-terrorism laws.

In a May 5 statement, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) urged all branches of government to act against red-tagging, warning that the practice threatens fundamental freedoms and exposes people to harm. The commission cited findings from the 2025 National Inquiry on the Current Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines, which focused on red-tagging incidents.

The inquiry found that red-tagging persists through public and online labeling of individuals and groups as “communists,” “terrorists,” or “enemies of the State,” often without due process. Those affected include journalists, lawyers, students, labor leaders, Indigenous Peoples, community organizers, and others engaged in advocacy or dissent.

The commission said red-tagging is harmful, citing risks such as threats, harassment, violence, detention, disappearances, and killings. It said the practice undermines rights to life, liberty, security, expression, and association, and creates a chilling effect on dissent and democratic participation.

“Addressing red-tagging requires sustained, coordinated, and rights-based action across all branches of government, as well as meaningful participation from civil society and other stakeholders,” the CHR underscored.

National human rights group Karapatan said the CHR report affirmed the “widespread, harmful and dangerous consequences” of red-tagging on people’s rights to life, liberty, and security, particularly for those exercising freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

The group noted that while the report did not declare red-tagging as state policy, it called for “an unequivocal assertion by government against red-tagging.”

The findings, the watchdog said, strengthen calls for justice for victims and the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC, “a state agency expressly created to conduct and orchestrate red-tagging at every level of government.”

The CHR urged the executive branch to implement a policy banning red-tagging and ensuring impartial investigations. It also called on Congress to pass legislation that clearly defines and penalizes red-tagging, and to review existing counterterrorism laws.

The commission also recommended that the Supreme Court review the writs of amparo and habeas data, which KARAPATAN said: “have been ineffective in according protection to victims and their families.”

“The CHR’s recommendations are crucial at this point in the country’s history when the state has, through its latest counter-insurgency program, the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development, further strengthened both the NTF-ELCAC and other Duterte-era fascist policies,” Karapatan stated.

The group also raised concerns over the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development, Executive Order 70, and Memorandum Order No. 32, saying these policies strengthen counterinsurgency measures linked to red-tagging.

Karapatan said the CHR’s findings and recommendations place the office “on a collision course with the dominant fascist state policy and render it vulnerable to red-tagging, the very scourge it is seeking to purge.” # nordis.net