DAVAO CITY,Philippines – SunStar Davao is being called out by the youth activist group Anakbayan for publishing two stories that red tagged the organization.
The first news story came out on June 14 where SunStar wrote that Anakbayan is allied with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
The story’s first version read: “Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its allied group, Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao Region (SMR), have slammed Davao City First District Representative Paolo ‘Pulong’ Duterte’s recent remarks against the New People’s Army (NPA).”
The story was based on both organizations’ different statements that criticized Duterte’s call for alleged victims of drug addicts and the New People’s Army to report to the government.
In their statement, Anakbayan called Duterte’s position as an attempt to divert public attention of Davawenyos from pressing problems such as the worsening traffic, flooding and low wages.
Anakbayan wrote a letter to the editors of SunStar Davao, saying that the framing of the story “is misleading and poses a grave threat to … members and the organization.”
SunStar has corrected the story online but the original quote from their paragraph remains posted on SunStar’s social media posts, where it continues to circulate.
But on June 16, SunStar Davao published a reaction story from alleged former NPA leaders who red-tagged Anakbayan.
The story quoted Arian Jane Ramos and Jam Saguino, who claimed to be former rebels and claimed that Anakbayan is a front of the CPP.
Both Ramos and Saguino said they were once student activists,Saguino saying he was a former Anakbayan National vice-chairperson for Mindanao, and claimed the organizations were used to recruit for the NPA.
Ramos, who said she once went by the alias ‘Ka Marikit’ in the underground, is now president of the group Kalinaw Southeastern Mindanao which include NPA surrenderees..
Both Ramos and Saguino insist that Anakbayan is part of the “pipeline” and “part of the largest insurgent machinery”.
The article included Anakbayan’s reaction to the claims of Ramos and Saguino. But in an interview with Davao Today, Anakbayan Southern Mindanao Chairperson Fauzhea Guiani said their position on the allegations is not just simply a “denial” as the news story framed.
“Ang ginamit nilang term doon is ‘denial’. Pero, hindi kasi siya denial yung paglay ng truth na legitimate organization ang Anakbayan. Time and time again, nagapatunay ito na bakit mayroong mga organization na nabubuo? Kasi yung immediate na pangangailangan ng taong bayan, hindi siya natutugunan (They used the term ‘denial’. But laying out the truth about the legitimacy of Anakbayan is not a denial. Time and again, this shows that a reason why organizations are formed is because of the immediate needs of the people, which demands response),” Guiani said.
“What the organization is fighting for are jobs, wages, advancing a nationalist mass-oriented education, opposition to mandatory ROTC, and other issues involving the genuine interests of the people,” the Anakbayan leader said.
She also reiterated their critique of Congressman Duterte, saying politicians like him are resorting to red-tagging as they could not address their demands. Duterte has also faced questions from fellow congressmen on his disbursement of his district funds.
“They could not criticize our call for livable wages. So, these politicians like Pulong could only resort to hitting the organizations who are raising legitimate demands,” Guiani said.
Guiani said no matter what Ramos and Saguino will say to link Anakbayan and other groups to the CPP, they know this is part of the propaganda of the military.
“One thing for sure is that they are the mouthpiece of the NTF-ELCAC. They are entitled to their opinions, but if their opinions endanger the safety of our members with their blatant-red-tagging, of course, we need to push back against their narrative,” Guiani said.
She is wary that the normalization of red-tagging by media platforms and by state-aligned personalities are real threats.
“If anything happens to members of Anakbayan, no one is to be blamed but the reactionary state, and these personalities are key to why the violence is perpetrated,” the Anakbayan leader said.
Red-tagging has been an issue raised by activists as a threat to democratic rights, life and liberty, which rose during the Duterte administration as the military targeted legal organizations and activists claiming them to have links to the CPP.
Activists were arrested, murdered or faced legal cases that were later dismissed for lack of evidence.
The Supreme Court has ruled in a case of former Bayan Muna Representative Seigfrid Deduro that red-tagging constitutes threats to a person’s life and liberty.
United Nations rapporteurs and other international human rights groups have urged the government to stop red-tagging.(davaotoday.com)
Redtagging
