The vilification of activists, journalists, and labor organizers has become a defining feature of a government that equates criticism with subversion.

By Shan Kenshin Q. Ecaldre
Bulatlat.com

Cabuyao, Laguna — “The continued defense of its harmful practice is yet another proof that it should be abolished.” 

This was the sentiment of the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) after the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) defended its red-tagging activities during the RP-EU 5th Sub-Committee Meeting on Good Governance, Rule of Law, and Human Rights held in Brussels, Belgium. 

Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr., NTF-ELCAC executive director, claimed that red-tagging is “based on evidence” and forms part of the government’s mandate to counter armed insurgency. CTUHR, however, stressed that such remarks expose how deeply institutionalized red-tagging has become as a state policy to silence dissent.

“The government can end the armed conflict by addressing its root causes,” CTUHR said. “Instead of doing this, however, it has adopted a militarist approach, trying to end the insurgency with an iron fist.”

Chilling effect

For labor groups, NTF-ELCAC’s defense of red-tagging has resulted in bloodshed. Unionists and workers calling for higher wages and humane working conditions are branded as “communist fronts,” their names appearing on tarpaulins and social media posts, and, too often, in police reports even after their deaths.

On September 21, 2025, construction worker Eric Saber was shot dead during a protest in Mendiola. Labor organizations condemned the killing, saying it mirrored the Bloody Sunday massacre of 2021, when nine activists and union organizers were slain in coordinated police raids across CALABARZON. 

Human rights alliance KARAPATAN called for justice for Saber. “Why is it always the poor who carry the burden, while senators and politicians swim in billions of stolen public funds? Why, when the poor fight back, are they branded criminals?” Maria Sol Taule said in a statement.

In recent years, Gardenia Philippines union leaders have reported harassment and red-tagging in factory briefings. Slain labor leaders Diosdado Fortuna and Ricardo Ramos have become symbols of long-standing violence organized workers face.

P7.8 billion for repression?

NTF-ELCAC continues to enjoy enormous public funds to sustain its counterinsurgency operations. According to the Department of Budget and Management, the task force has been allocated P7.8 billion for 2025, largely channeled through its Barangay Development Program (BDP).

The BDP supposedly funds local projects such as roads, health centers, and water systems in “cleared” barangays. However, rights advocates and lawmakers stressed that the program serves as a political tool to extend military influence in rural communities and consolidate control over local governance.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co questioned the BDP’s legitimacy, describing it as a “bogus development program” that enables corruption and militarization. She urged the Marcos administration to defund NTF-ELCAC and reallocate its billions to basic social services, education, and agriculture.

“There is nothing developmental about surrendering communities to military control,” Co said. “If the government truly wants peace, it should invest in genuine development, agrarian reform, national industrialization, and living wages, not counterinsurgency.” 

Contradicting own policy

The task force’s defense of red-tagging runs contrary to Executive Order No. 97, recently signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which prohibits any government agency from labeling workers, unions, or organizations as communists or terrorists without due process.

For human rights defenders, this contradiction exposes more than a bureaucratic failure, it reveals the state’s deeper hostility toward dissent. The vilification of activists, journalists, and labor organizers has become a defining feature of a government that equates criticism with subversion.

As the European Union and the international community continue to scrutinize the Philippines’ human rights record, groups like CTUHR assert that genuine peace cannot be achieved by silencing those who demand justice.

“If Marcos Jr. is sincere in protecting labor rights and democratic freedoms,” CTUHR said, “he must abolish NTF-ELCAC and criminalize red-tagging once and for all.” (RTS, DAA)