On April 22, the Makabayan bloc filed election offense charges against National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. following a series of public and online statements that maliciously link the lawmakers to the communist group at the COMELEC’s main office in Intramuros, Manila.
“The systematic nature of these attacks during the election period is a clear attempt to manipulate voters and undermine our democratic processes,” said ACT Teachers Partylist representative and senatorial candidate France Castro in a statement.
The lawmakers argued that Torres’ actions blatantly violate the Omnibus Election Code and Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Resolution No. 11116.
Under Resolution No. 11116, the COMELEC recognizes red-tagging as an election offense, which defines it as categorizing, labeling, branding, or accusing individuals or groups as subversives or terrorists without evidence. Such actions jeopardize their safety and liberty.
The complaint cited multiple social media posts and press releases issued by Torres that directly link members of the Makabayan bloc and their candidates to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).
Aside from social media posts from NTF-ELCAC, progressive candidates running under the Makabayan bloc also bore the brunt of the disinformation campaign from various sources, with the candidates being front-and-center of deepfake videos and AI-related content that outrightly links them to revolutionary groups.
“Ang red-tagging ay hindi lamang panlilinlang sa publiko, ito’y nagdudulot ng tunay na panganib sa aming buhay at seguridad, pati na rin sa aming mga supporters at volunteers,” emphasized Rep. Brosas. “These false accusations have already generated online hate speech, including calls for violence against us.”
Red-tagging is listed as the top election violation committed online and on-ground, as reported by VoteReportPH, an independent poll watchdog.
In its updated report dated April 11, red-tagging took up 97.95% of the 487 reported cases of online campaign violations. Meanwhile, out of 246 reported on-ground campaign violations, red-tagging, illegal campaigning, and election-related violence were the most committed offenses, with red-tagging taking up the highest percentage (40.65%), followed by illegal campaigning (28.05%), and election-related violence (14.23%)
In addition to seeking penalties, the bloc urged COMELEC to immediately order NTF-ELCAC to remove red-tagging content from its online platforms.
“This complaint protects not just Makabayan and its candidates but every Filipino who dares to stand for change,” said Maza, reiterating the bloc’s long-standing call to abolish NTF-ELCAC, which they argue undermines democratic institutions.
Makabayan bloc was not the first to compel COMELEC to implement stricter sanctions regarding the red-tagging poll offenses. In its statement last March 15, Kontra Daya convener Dr. Danilo Arao sounded the alarm following the initial report of campaign violations released on March 14.
“As early as now, the Comelec should take these violations seriously and penalize the violators. Otherwise, the violations will just pile up and get worse,” Arao stated.
He added that red-tagging incidents are concerning especially due to the political climate in the country, wherein those who are accused as communist and terrorists are susceptible to arrests and worse, killings. With the harm that red-tagging brings to candidates, COMELEC, then should have acted accordingly, he explained.
