Palawan fisherman seek CHR intervention vs 'red-tagging'
MANILA, Philippines — Palawan-based leaders of fisherfolk federation Pamalakaya this week urged the Commission on Human Rights to take action against what they said was baseless "red-tagging" from members of the local anti-communist task force.
According to a press statement from Pamalakaya, the leaders directly sought CHR's assistance at their office in Quezon City to appeal for an intervention, they said, against a campaign by the Palawan Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict labelling them as rebels and rebel supporters.
"This local office of the National Task Force created by Duterte’s Executive Order 70, is undermining the respect for human rights and peace in the island which is known for its pristine natural tourist spots,” Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.
Philippine jurisprudence has defined the term 'red-tagging' as:
“the act of labelling, branding, naming and accusing individuals and/or organizations of being left-leaning, subversives, communists or terrorists (used as) a strategy... by State agents, particularly law enforcement agencies and the military, against those perceived to be ‘threats’ or ‘enemies of the State.’”
CHR itself has long spoken out about the dangers of red-tagging. CHR Commissioner Jacqueline De Guia, who is a lawyer, said in a statement in April that accusations of communist involvement must be proven in court.
“Labelling groups before an objective judgment violates the constitutional guarantee of presumption of innocence and may have serious implications on the security and movement of individuals and groups involved,” she said.
Pamalakaya said that the Palawan task force's campaign targets 22 legal and democratic organizations, which includes the Palawan chapter of Pamalakaya and of workers' group Anakpawis as well as lawyers, religious groups and 25 private individuals.
RELATED: How activists respond to being tagged as rebels
"Gusto naming itambol ang kalagayan ng mamamayan ng Palawan dahil ayaw naming matulad ito sa ibang lugar na kung saan naganap ang mga massacre, mass killing at iba pang porma ng human rights violations," Hicap said in his statement.
(We want to make known the state of the people in Palawan, because we don't want things to become the way they are in other places where massacres, mass killings and other forms of human rights violations happen.)
"Karaniwan na sa mga biktima ng extrajudicial killing sa bansa, bago sila patayin ay nagiging biktima ng red-tagging," he said.
(It is common for victims of extrajudicial killings in the country to be 'red-tagged' before they are killed)
Crackdown
President Rodrigo "Roa" Duterte signed Executive Order 70 on December 4, 2018, effectively creating a national task force "to end local communist armed conflict and [direct] the adoption of a national peace framework."
But leftist activists say they have been on the receiving end of what they say is misplaced attention from these task forces. In late October and early November, the offices of known progressive organizations in the country were raided for what they all said were trumped-up charges aimed at stifling dissent.
According to data from rights watchdog Karapatan, at least 293 political killings have been recorded during the Duterte administration. Among those killed, 167 were human rights defenders.
They also said that at least 204 have been tortured, 429 fell victims to frustrated extrajudicial killings, 11 were forcibly disappeared, and 94,075 were threatened and harassed.
RELATED: Karapatan say rights workers under surveillance, being harassed
While these killings occurred within the human rights sector alone, the numbers under the administration's so-called 'war on drugs' are much more chilling.
Rights activists argue that over 27,000 have died as a result of vigilante-style summary executions attributed to the anti-drug campaign, without regard for due process.
Even data from the Philippine National Police confirms this to some degree, as their latest data admits that some 5,200 "drug personalities" have died during official police operations.
“Sa mata ng AFP, basta aktibista ka, na ipinaglalaban mo ang karapatan mo, sa kaso ng Pamalakaya ay para makapangisda sila at labanan ang malalaking fishing vessels, ay mga myembro agad ng NPA,” Hicap said.
)In the eyes of the AFP, as long as you're an activist fighting for your rights, or in the case of Pamalakaya fighting for their right to fish and against big fishing vessels, you're automatically a member of the New People's Army.)
"Hindi kinikilala ng AFP ang mismong konstitusyon ng Pilipinas, kung saan nakasaad sa Bill of Rights ang mga karapatan ng mamamayan."
(The AFP doesn't recognize even the Constitution of the Philippines where the rights of the people are enshrined in the Bill of Rights.)
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