DOJ chief on red-tagging: File raps instead

MANILA, Philippines — Complaints should be filed instead of red-tagging activists as communists, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday.

At yesterday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay virtual forum, Guevarra said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been clear in its position that charges must be filed against anyone found violating the law.

“If you have evidence against them, follow the necessary legal action… Stop labeling them. Do whatever is necessary to prosecute them,” Guevarra said.

He advised those who are red-tagging people based on mere suspicion to just “keep silent.”

“You are endangering certain people if you do not have sufficient evidence. It is possible that these individuals will become targets when they were just being vocal about their political views,” the DOJ chief said.

Guevarra said the DOJ has expressed this position to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

He said the task force has a “whole of nation approach” to reduce or eliminate insurgency in the country.

”This would be achieved by helping them through rehabilitation and not by killing them or engaging in combat with them. The task force’s essential purpose is to bring these individuals back to the fold of the law,” Guevarra said.

Incoming national security adviser Clarita Carlos had earlier expressed her disapproval of red-tagging.