The Senate national defense committee on Wednesday enjoined the members of the Makabayan bloc from the House of Representatives to openly and strongly denounce the CPP-NPA-NDF for their actual acts of aggression against the duly constituted government and against the people to disassociate themselves from the armed struggle.
‘’As elected representatives of the marginalized sectors, it is incumbent upon them to advocate the interest of their respective sectors in the parliament within the bounds of the law. Their leadership should exemplify among their members and constituents the pursuit of change by ways of peace including legal protests and related mass actions,’’ the committe said.
This is one of the findings of the committee which stated that there are legal remedies available for personalities or groups that have been the subject of the so-called ‘’red-tagging’’ as some of them have already filed charges before the office of the Ombudsman.
‘’This Committee is of the view that criminalizing ‘red-tagging’ is no longer necessary since those who were or may be at the receiving end of red-tagging may avail of the legal remedies under existing laws if the alleged red-tagging violated their constitutional rights,’’ the report said.
The report was signed by Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, committee chairman and 10 other senators. Before he became senator, Lacson was chief of the Philippine National Police.
The report stated that progressive groups whose young members were killed during NPA encounters should be able to address the issue other than general denials of their involvement with the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
These groups, according to the report, should come clean and ensure that their organizations are not being used by the CPP-NPA-NDF in the recruitment of armed combatants as alleged by the witnesses presented by the security sector.
Senators observed that, while the progressive groups were quick to condemn the human rights violations of the Armed Forces the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP, they refused to do the same when asked by the Committee during its hearings to denounce and disown the CPP-NPA-NDF which wage armed struggle.
‘’This Committee recognizes that they have no legal responsibility, as freedom of expression includes the right not to speak,’’ the report stated.
‘’It is the position of the Committee that, as government officials (Makabayan bloc) who have taken their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, they have at the very least the moral obligation to condemn the atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF. After all. United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 1566 explicitly states the condemnation in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism irrespective of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever committed, as one of the most serious threats to peace and security,’’ it added.
‘’They should publicly reproach the CPP-NPA-NDF with the same tenacity they devote in calling out the government for, its shortcomings in various issues facing our nation and demanding reforms on almost every aspect of governance,’’ it stressed.
Addressing the security sector, the committee stated that "since life, liberty, and property are at stake, the mandate of being the protector of the State carries with it the sacred responsibility of making sure that every action of the security sector is founded on strong information.’’
The committee recommended that the security sector should give greater attention to the strengthening of its intelligence gathering and analysis capability to ensure that every information used Is indeed verified and actionable.
It, likewise, pointed out that the security sector should exercise caution in making public pronouncements as these carry with it a semblance of authority from the State.
‘’The authorities should refrain from publicly vilifying, labelling and imputing guilt by association to the communist groups, various institutions and progressive organizations based on false or unverified information. To illustrate, this Committee finds the recent blunder of the military in their Facebook post publishing the list of students who allegedly joined the NPA (died or captured) as unacceptable,’’ the report stated.
‘’The recklessness in making such inaccurate and inconsistent public pronouncements causes not only damage to the reputation of those identified, but also weakens the credibility of the government in safeguarding the security of the State. To earn the trust and confidence of the people, they must prove the legitimacy of their means used in gathering information and the credibility of their evidence,’’ it stressed.
The committee stated that the security sector should also reassess their communication and Information dissemination strategies in consideration of the resulting increase in polarization between the government and the people.
The committee report also said:
‘’With Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. holding concurrent roles as the military commander of the AFP Southern Luzon Command and Spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), there is confusion over his accountability and answerability. This becomes most pronounced in the recent case when Parlade accused Inquirer.net reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas of being a "propagandist" implying that she was "aiding terrorists".
Defense Secretary Lorenzana mentioned that he would order the AFP to investigate the possible mistakes of Lt. Gen. Parlade.
Meanwhile, AFP Chief-of-Staff General Cirilito Sobejana insinuated that his hands are tied in dealing with Lt. Gen. Parlade by saying, "on top of his being the commander of the Southern Luzon Command, he is also the spokesperson of the NTF-ELCAC.’’