Mt Province POs hit Red-tagging; PNP execs confronted; apologize

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Peoples organizations here called on the  Sangguniang Bayan to come up with a law banning Red-tagging of peoples organizations (POs) and persons working for  people  and communities rights and welfare.

This, following a dialogue here called by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) asking the Philippine National Police to explain why they labelled some peoples organizations in a leaflet the Sagada PNP distributed during the celebration of the Sagada Etag Festival held Jan. 30 to first week of February this year.

The flyers titled, “Deceptive Recruitment of CPP-NPA Terrorists” listed alleged communist fronts the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), Innabuyog, Gabriela, Mountain Province Research Development, Inayan Watch, APIT TAKO Montanosa, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), Katribu, and Bayan Muna. Sagada based organizations are  Inayan Watch, MRDC and Apit Montanyosa.

Windel Bolinget, chairperson of CPA said the Sagada MPS owes said organizations an apology and asked also the municipality’s legislative council to come up with a law against Red-tagging peoples organizations and persons working for peoples rights and welfare.

Sagada-based Inayan Watch, MRDC and Apit Montayosa are member organizations of the broad alliance of CPA with member groups spread out in the Cordillera.

Respective speakers of  Sagada-based organizations forwarded the legitimacy and services they deliver to their respective clients.

Newly established Inayan Watch focus their activities related to violence against women and children (VAWC). Apit Montanosa an organization of farmers work for organic farming and services to reach farmers as clamor for irrigation facilities.

MRDC which had long been established in the 1980s delivered services in far flung places in the Cordillera such as Ngibat, Kalinga where government has not reached then.    

Reluctant to issue an apology, MPS chief of police Basilio Hopdayan said they have basis in their claims, saying the leaflets were issued as warning for said POs "not to be used by NPA- CPP in their activities."

Bolinget and respective PO speakers denied the claims and said the act of Red-tagging puts POs and members in danger of their security.

Provincial PNP chief on community relations Maj.Jerry Haduca though apologized saying they were not able to check contents of the flyers distributed.

In an interview, Haduca said police are also working also with communities.  

Other POs and NGOS and activists have been Red-tagged including the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), an ecumenical organization of churches; OXFAM, an NGO working for humanitarian causes and research- based Ibon Foundation.  

In Baguio, the city council welcomed the proposal of youth organizations for  an anti-red tagging ordinance following the malicious tagging of schools and organizations as "Communist terrorist fronts and rebel recruiters."

Ibon Foundation filed a complaint to the office of the Ombudsman  against Southern Luzon Command chief Major General Antonio Parlade Jr, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, and Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy for their "malicious abuse of authority and negligent performance of duties as public officials". 

Labelling, branding and red tagging of POs, NGOs and activists heightened with the government’s "whole of nation" approach called End Local Communism and Armed Conflict (ELCAC) through executive order  70  issued in Dec 2018 . 

While government led by the PNP and the AFP are Red-tagging POs, the government is bound to implement its policy on working with POs and NGOs with the Dept. of Interior and Local Government  (DILG).

DILG memorandum circular 2019-72 stated, “Good governance is vital in the pursuit of excellence in public administration and development. The  DILG  recognizes that in forming a sustainable foundation of  good governance , it is not enough to concentrate on developing the internal capacity of local governments  It is equally important to develop  and strengthen partnership  with COS in order to empower citizens  to articulate their  needs as they participate in the decision making process, program planning, implementation and monitoring  at the local label which can increase the responsiveness and  efficiency of local governments in delivering  services.”

The local government code of 1991 provides establishment of people’s organizations, non-government organizations, and the private sector to make them active partners in the pursuit of local autonomy, and to directly involve them in the plans, programs, projects, or activities of the local government.