A human rights group on Wednesday warned anew about the severe implications of red-tagging on the safety of individuals following the killing of red-tagged doctor and her husband in Negros Oriental.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the killing of Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband Edwin proved the threats of red-tagging are “real and certainly not contrived.” 

Red-tagging is the act of linking individuals or progressive groups to the communist movement and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

The couple was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen while on their way home in Barangay Poblacion in Guihulngan City.

They were brought to a local hospital, but were declared dead on arrival.

Mary Rose, the head of the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, was accused of having links with local communist rebels.

Karapatan expressed outrage over the killing of the Sancelan couple, noting the incident “clearly shows how relentless vilification leads to merciless death.”

“Health frontliners like them who rendered invaluable service and sacrifice especially during the pandemic were not only exposed to a deadly virus but to a dangerous political environment,” Palabay said.

“This pattern of killings of red-tagged individuals is precisely the cause for great alarm by many,” she added.

According to the group, the city health officer was included in the hit list of Kagubak, a local anti-communist vigilante group involved in red-tagging several organizations and individuals in Negros.

“The other names included in the list are lawyer Anthony Trinidad and Heidie Malalay Flores who were both killed in recent years,” it said.

The death of Sancela couple was the latest of the spate of killings in Negros Island after human rights worker and activist Zara Alvarez was killed in Bacolod last August.