Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Monday called on the Senate to investigate alleged reports of the Philippine National Police's (PNP) red-tagging of progressive groups through its official social media accounts.
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Monday called on the Senate to investigate alleged reports of the Philippine National Police’s red-tagging of progressive groups through its official social media accounts.
In filing Senate Resolution No. 451, De Lima said it is imperative to exact accountability from the persons responsible for such state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. The senator said such moves are clearly intended to suppress legitimate forms of dissent and protest while undermining the country’s democratic institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “State agents’ blatant red-tagging of activists is an attack on the very foundations of our democracy and constitutes a grave abuse of authority and misappropriation of public funds in addition to the potential harm it may cause to its targets,” De Lima said in the explanatory note of her resolution. “This practice of red-tagging undermines the fundamental principles of the Constitution and other international treaties to uphold, promote, and protect basic human rights, particularly the right to freedom of speech and expression,” she said. She said the current political climate makes these instances of red-tagging even more dangerous given the awaited signing of the Anti-Terrorism Bill into law, which uses an overbroad definition of terrorism. The proposed Anti-Terrorism law, she warned, can subject suspects to weeks of detention prior to an appearance before a judge. “Activists and legitimate political dissent may be wrongfully conflated with terrorists and acts of terror with such irresponsible and malicious acts perpetrated by state agents,” she said. Last June 7, two PNP regional offices reportedly posted photos accusing legal activist organizations of being communist fronts on their official social media accounts.De Lima recalled that one Facebook account—which belongs to Butuan City-Police Regional Office 13 – listed a number of activist organizations as “communist terrorists,” including militant groups Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Bayan Muna, and Kabataan Party-lists. De Lima also said that another Twitter account with the handle PNPBaguioStn4 – which is followed by the PNP’s official Twitter account – also published a post, singling out the Kabataan party-list. The same account accused the Alliance of Concerned Teachers , Gabriela Women’s Party, Bayan Muna, League of Filipino Students, Kabataan Party-list, and Anakbayan of being terrorists in an earlier post prior to Labor Day. The detained senator said an investigation is necessary to exact accountability from the law enforcement officials who were directly involved in these instances of red-tagging and red-baiting. She said a Senate inquiry can also help determine whether the reported cases of red-tagging “are components of institutionalized counterinsurgency strategies geared towards winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of people through massive social media disinformation campaigns.” “Critical dissent is a crucial component of a healthy and functioning democracy and allows for the participation of ordinary citizens in the political process,” she said.
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