NUPL Denounces Red-Tagging in Metro Manila Court, Seeks Urgent SC Action

📷: NUPL | FB

On the seventh anniversary of Executive Order No. 70, which established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) denounced what it described as a dangerous escalation of red-tagging, this time inside a courtroom.

Red-Tagging Creeps Into Judicial Records 

In a pending case before a Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila, defense counsel submitted a supposed list of “underground mass organizations and front organizations” of the CPP-NPA-NDF, explicitly naming the NUPL. The group warned that what was once confined to airwaves and social media is now being “smuggled into official court records under the guise of evidence.”

“This brazenness shows how red-tagging is creeping into the formal processes of the legal system,” the NUPL stressed in its letter to the Supreme Court.

Broader Pattern of Attacks 

The NUPL said the incident is part of a wider pattern of harassment by state officials and former NTF-ELCAC personalities. It recalled threats made online, including one post depicting a corrupt judge being skinned alive—accompanied by calls for the same fate to befall judges and lawyers allegedly “giving cover” to the CPP-NPA-NDF.

The group emphasized that despite attempts to rebrand NTF-ELCAC under the National Action Plan on Unity, Peace, and Development, its core mission remains unchanged: “to label, isolate, and endanger dissenters.”

UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan, after her 2024 visit to the Philippines, had already urged the abolition of the Task Force, calling it “outdated” and harmful to civil society, academic freedom, and human rights work.

Supreme Court Precedents 

The judiciary itself has recognized the dangers of red-tagging.

In Deduro v. Vinoya (2023), the Supreme Court declared red-tagging a violation of the right to life, liberty, and security.

In Re: Statements Made by Lorraine Marie T. Badoy (2023), the Court held Badoy-Partosa in indirect contempt for bad-faith attacks on Judge Malagar and the judiciary.

NUPL’s Call to Action

In its formal letter, the NUPL urged the Supreme Court to:

– Take note of the red-tagging act committed in the ongoing case.

– Establish concrete protection mechanisms for lawyers under threat, guided by international standards such as the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Lawyers.

– Convene a national dialogue among the Bench, Bar, and civil society to craft institutional safeguards for embattled members of the legal profession.

“We respectfully urge the Judiciary to remain vigilant against any attempt to weaponize its processes, and to affirm, through concrete protection measures, that the courts remain safe spaces for all litigators, advocates, and those who seek justice,” the NUPL stated. (ZIA LUNA)