“Hindi namin kailangan ng webinar o kahit na anong black propaganda laban sa mga lehitimong organisasyon,” Anakbayan Kalookan affirmed.

First day of imposition of yet another Enhanced Community Quarantine was met with series of attacks in forms of extrajudicial killings and red-tagging accounts through tarpaulins and coffin-theatrics at the height of counter-insurgency program against progressive individuals or organizations.

Groups chided that these tactics are being done both offline and online, twitting the government alongside the National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in proliferation of red-tagging threats.

“Ang ganitong uri ng aksyon sa gitna ng pandemya kung saan nagugutom ang mamamayan ay hindi makatarungan na inuuna pa ang ganitong mga hakbangin,” said Anakbayan Kalookan in a statement.

This comprehensive, national democratic youth organization has long been assaulted with constant vilification efforts.

Caloocan City Police wrote an invitation letter to the Sangguniang Kabataan officials from Barangay 1-188 in the local municipality to participate in a so-called KKDAT Summit of Caloocan themed “Kabataang Bagani, Batang Bayani”.

It said in the letter that the participation of youth officials would then be deemed as an honor, where, evidently, the point of discussion had exposed the police district’s support in the controversial anti-communist taskforce.

“Ito ay tuwirang pambubusal sa bibig ng mga kabataang namumulat dahil na rin sa labis na kahirapan at kaapihang dulot ng lipunang puno ng inhustisya […] Ang nais ng mga kabataan ay kagyat na solusyonan ang lumalalang krisis pangkalusugan at pang ekonomiya. Ibigay ang kahilingan ng mamamayan, trabaho, nakabubuhay na sahod at ligtas na kapaligiran para sa lahat,” Anakbayan Kalookan furthered, urging the government to address the worsening socio-economic and medical needs of the Filipinos instead of perpetuating these black propaganda against legal organizations.

Youth Movement Against Tyranny (YMAT) spokesperson Andrea Trinidad lambasted NTF-ELCAC, saying that it has done everything to maximize each department of the Philippine government in its counter-insurgency campaign.

YMAT is an alliance of student councils, student publications, and youth formations that aim to unite all freedom-loving Filipinos to condemn the current tyrannical and fascist regime.

“The Duterte administration clearly prioritizes the funding and operations of NTF-ELCAC over the people’s needs for social services amidst the pandemic,” Trinidad echoed the same sentiment as Anakbayan Kalookan.

Trinidad noted that these affronts, now reaching clusters down to barangay levels, rather pose a grave threat for the concerned people of the Philippines.

The worsening human rights situation under the Duterte administration made the youth recognize the societal problems on their own because they themselves are affected by it, the YMAT spox added.

She reiterated that aside from these attacks, the youth are also affected along with different sectors in the crisis brought by the pandemic which has been worsened under the Duterte regime. Especially the situation of students amid the continuing crisis in education sector.

In fact, last January 26, University of Caloocan City was among the 38 universities and organizations red-tagged by the controversial, Filipino tax-funded state agency NTF-ELCAC.

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