Cavite 7th district Rep. Jesus “Boying” Remulla alleged that only 17,000 people–not 47,000–attended Vice President Leni Robredo’s rally in General Trias, Cavite last March 4.
“Sa Cavite po, tahimik po kami, ayoko lang ho na ginagamit po ng kanyang basis for exaggeration ang aming lalawigan. Hindi po totoo na 47,000. More like 17,000 I would say. Kaya pasensiyahan na lang, that is what happened, nakita ko po with my own eyes (We’re quiet here in Cavite, I just don’t like it when our place is used for the basis of her exaggeration. It’s not true that 47,000 . More like 17,000. That’s why I’m sorry to say, that is what happened, I saw it with my own eyes),” Remulla was reported to have said on Friday, March 11.
Remulla, a friend of presidential bet Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., then doubled down on red-tagging the organizers and attendees of the Cavite rally.
“This is validated by our own intelligence community. Pinadala ho sakin ang mga pangalan ng mga nag-organize na galing po sa leftist sector na ka-ani nila VP Robredo kaya malakas po ang loob ko sabihin yan dahil nakita ko po talaga (They sent me the names of the organizers from the leftist sector who were at Robredo’s rally which is why I’m confident in saying that because I saw it with my own eyes),” he explained.
Red-tagging is the act of accusing individuals of involvement with communist and terrorist groups, specifically the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). It is often used to incite action against activists, opposition politicians, lawyers, and even journalists.
“I saw it with my own eyes kung paano sila bumababa ng jeep, yung kanilang mga uniporme, mga bandila na dala nila. Eh mass manufactured po yan. Tactic po ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (how they exited the jeepneys, their uniforms, their flags. These were mass-manufactured. A tactic of the NDF). This was validated by the intelligence reports of the military that were given by the military after the fact,” continued the solon.
Remulla also reiterated his theory that some of those who attended the rally were paid.
“Validated po lahat ng sinabi... Meron po nga bayaran (Everything I said was validated... People were paid to attend),” he asserted.
Previously, he accused the rally organizers of paying P500 each to attendees of Robredo’s rally in Cavite last March 4.
Meanwhile, Robredo and her camp have vehemently denied the red-tagging claims, describing the tactic as “irresponsible fear-mongering".