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The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 may have emboldened some officials in the security sector to “red-tag” certain persons and groups, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Thursday, April 29.
“There is reason to believe na baka merong (that there might be) linkage somehow,” Guevarra said in an interview over ANC.
His view was aired amidst criticisms against officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for their “red-tagging” activities which have reportedly been endangering the lives of persons they are linking to the communist terrorist group.
“There may be some point to the argument because there is a provision in the Anti-Terrorism Law (Republic Act No. 11479) about recruitment and membership in terrorist organizations and punishes those acts accordingly,” Guevarra explained.
He reminded that RA 1700, the Anti-Subversion Law which was passed in 1957, outlawed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But RA 1700 was repealed in 1992.
After the repeal, he said that it was no longer a crime to join the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
“But now, with the Anti-Terrorism Law, recruitment and membership will be punished,” he pointed out.
“Kaya parang it’s fair to say na baka may relation nga yung current red- tagging activities (Thus it may be fair to say that the current red-tagging activities is related to this),” he added.
Guevarra had expressed his support to the passage of a law against red-tagging.
“People have raised their voice against it so we might as well have one because the frequency of this act loosely called red-tagging has really become quite disturbing, if I may say,” he said.
At the moment, Guevarra pointed out, those involved in red-tagging can only be charged for other offenses.
“The best that could be done would be to file complaints which are somehow related but not directly fitting to the act being complained of,” he said.
Last April 27, Guevarra said: “It would be best, however, that the Congress enact a law clearly defining and expressly penalizing what is loosely called today as ‘red-tagging.’”
Without the law, “complaints may revolve around defamation, coercion, unjust vexation, or violation of privacy laws, but not for an offense called ‘red-tagging,’” he said.
“If they want to prosecute people who do ‘red tagging’ then the appropriate legislation should be passed,” he stressed.