The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has slammed as “unfortunate’ the several incidents of reported red-tagging of political candidates over the past few weeks.
It pointed out that those with the primary obligation to respect and protect human rights "have been continuously resorting to red-tagging" and, thus, negating their sworn duty to Filipinos.
Human rights advocates describe red-tagging as the blacklisting of individuals who are critical of the government and, thus, tagged as supporters of communist terrorist groups.
The CHR cited the red-tagging in the Cordillera Administrative Region, which targeted Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance comprising of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, Youth Act Now, Kabataan, and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
It said that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has accused Magalong of "betrayal" because of his reported protection of individuals and organizations that are communist front groups.
Because of their "inclusive approach" to governance, the CHR said these candidates have been subjected to the "reprehensible practice" of red-tagging.
The CHR has reiterated its call for the government to put an end to the "carte blanche approach of red-tagging" regardless of their advocacy, ideology, or perceived political affiliation.
"Defaulting to this approach results in missed opportunities to address concerns being surfaced by the labelled persons and groups. Governance necessitates tackling various issues across diverse groups of people, rather than downplaying or trivializing certain concerns due to preconceived notions and labels,” it said.
It lamented that since red-tagging is being done so closely to the upcoming national elections, this will delegitimize the advocacies of certain candidates who respond to the pressing human rights needs of the people.
"It can also result in the exclusion of the legitimate concerns of vulnerable groups in the election discourse consequently restricting the right to socio-political participation during this important phase of the election process," it warned.