A group of human rights lawyers accused the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) of lying before the United Nations (UN) by claiming it “champions human rights, security, and peace” in the Philippines.
Reacting to the task force’s report to the 77th Session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said that the red-tagging agency is doing the “exact opposite of its claims.”
“It denies the existence of the policy of red-tagging while branding, in the same breath, indigenous Lumad schools as ‘recruiters’ for the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines),” the NUPL said.
“This statement is itself red-tagging—a baseless and dangerous labeling practice that has repeatedly led to surveillance, harassment, arbitrary arrests, and even killings,” the group added.
NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. claimed before the UN CESCR session in Geneva, Switzerland that his agency counters so-called terrorist activities “while upholding the rule of law and safeguarding human rights.”
Torres Jr. said the task force firmly denies allegations of red-tagging activities, citing that the Philippine government has no policy to attack, harass, or intimidate human rights defenders, environmental activists, lawyers, or media professionals.
Held from February 19 to 20, UN CESCR’s 77th session in Geneva reviewed the Philippine government’s its compliance with international human rights obligations related to economic, social, and cultural rights.
The NUPL said the task force lied at the UN as the Philippine Supreme Court itself ruled on the practice “unequivocally” recognizing the existence of the practice that “constitutes a threat to life, liberty, and security, acknowledging the severe risks it poses to those falsely linked to the underground communist movement without due process.”
The lawyers said the government continues to enable the practice, “systematically using it as a pretext to attack dissenting voices and grassroots movements.”
“Stripped of its empty rhetoric, NTF-ELCAC is a state-funded machinery of repression—trading in fear, thriving on impunity, and silencing those who expose its lies. No propaganda can wash away the blood on its hands. It exists to criminalize activism, erode democratic space, and justify the persecution of those who dare to resist,” NUPL secretary general Atty. Josalee Deinla said.
Court records as proof
IBON Foundation, itself a victim of government’s red-tagging activities, also said Philippine authorities had lied to the UN regarding its claimed compliance with its human rights obligations.
In a separate statement, IBON Foundation said government claims of not red-tagging are contradicted by on-going vilification of activists and non-government organizations (NGOs), even case dismissals and acquittals in courts across the country.
IBON cited the dismissal of the following cases as proof of a systematic campaign against civil society organizations like itself:
- Financing terrorism, dismissed in court
- Rhonel Alconera – Motu proprio dismissed on April 2, 2024 for insufficiency of evidence, no probable cause (so no warrant of arrest)
- Paul Tagle and Fritz Labiano – Motu proprio dismissed on June 5, 2024 for insufficiency of evidence, no probable cause (so no warrant of arrest)
- Evelyn Muñoz (Motu proprio dismissed on January 10, 2025 for insufficiency of evidence, no probable cause (so no warrant of arrest)
- Terrorism, dismissed in court
- Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos – dismissed on demurrer on June 17, 2021
- Nathanael Santiago, et al – Motu proprio dismissed on September 3, 2024 for insufficiency of evidence, no probable cause (so no warrant of arrest)
- Desiree Jaranilla, et al – Motu proprio dismissed on November 25, 2024 for insufficiency of evidence, no probable cause (so no warrant of arrest)
- Miguela Piniero – dismissed on demurrer on January 10, 2025
- Terrorism, dismissed during preliminary investigation
- Rev. Glofie Baluntong – dismissed on October 6, 2022
- Kenneth Rementilla and Jasmin Yvette Rubia – dismissed on November 3, 2023
- Hailey Pecayo – dismissed on November 20, 2023
“The government’s attempts to obfuscate its systematic human rights violations are rife with inconsistencies and omissions. They do not reflect the legal record and are inconsistent with well-documented instances, especially at the CHR, of civil society organizations filing complaints,” IBON said.
IBON also said that despite Torres’ denials before the international community of the task force’s violations of human rights,“he immediately contradicted himself with the admission that ‘We provide accurate information about individuals involved in terror-grooming – empowering people to make informed choices that protect themselves and their communities.’”
While not conceding the term ‘red-tagging, Torres in effect admitted ongoing vilification activities as “innocuous information campaigns,” IBON said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
