Red-tagging

EDITORIAL

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), last week instructed the military to be more cautious in accusing people of having links with communist groups.
    In a television interview, Sobejana said one of the guidelines he issued to the troops was to be “very careful” in pointing an accusing finger since the burden of proof was on them.
    “That’s one of my highlights in my guidance Thursday, that we should be very careful kasi the burden of proof ay nasa atin (because the burden of proof is on us),” he said.
    Evidence should always be presented, Sobejana said.
    The military has been widely criticized for arbitrarily labeling people as communists without presenting substantial evidence.
    Even in the Cordillera, members of human rights groups, people’s and non-government organizations like the Cordillera People’s Alliance have been tagged as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines even if they have denied it.
    In Ifugao some members of cause-oriented groups have been shot after being labelled such by State forces. It had become dangerous to espouse people’s rights since one could be labelled a member of the CPP and could be shot or killed cause-oriented groups said.
    At least one Army general has been censured for publishing a list of what he claimed were communist rebels or sympathizers. The list contained names that had nothing to do with the communist movement and the AFP had to issue an apology.
    Sobejana said the AFP should learn from erroneous information that it had publicized.
    Recently, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesman Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. warned he would sue an online news reporter for her report on Aetas being tortured by soldiers.
    Parlade accused the reporter of “aiding the terrorists by spreading lies.”
    Sobejana assured the public he would look into the issue.
    Sen Panfilo Lacson said Parlade’s “careless and unnecessary” remarks might weaken the government’s defense of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), which is being challenged before the Supreme Court.
    “Coming at a time when the solicitor general is defending the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 against 37 petitions, particularly on the issue involving ‘overbreadth doctrine’ among others, such remarks from a high-ranking military official is uncalled for and totally unnecessary,” Lacson, the principal sponsor and one of the authors of the Senate version of the ATA, said in a statement.
    “There are basic freedoms that remain to be protected and upheld under RA (Republic Act) 11479, foremost is the freedom of speech or expression,” he added.
    Lacson, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, said that accusing a journalist of “aiding the terrorists by spreading lies,” assuming that such comment was accurately attributed to him, surely does not help the government to convince the magistrates of the Supreme Court to rule in its favor.
    “At a time when unity is needed against threats such as terrorism, actions that threaten to divide are the last thing our country needs,” he said.
    The Supreme Court is now on the spot. The public is awaiting its ruling on the Anti-Terrorism Act considering widespread opposition against it. Its ruling would spell its credibility as the country’s last bastion of justice and interpreter of laws.