The Claim: NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson claims that Baguio City Mayor’s directive was intended to protect communist rebels.
Rating: FALSE
The Facts: In a post on the NTF-ELCAC’s Facebook page, its Spokesperson Lorraine Marie T. Badoy-Partosa expressed her disappointment with Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong’s directive not to post red-tagging posters or soc-med posts to assure the safety of activists and other cause-oriented groups.
Mayor Magalong issued this directive to the Baguio City PNP following reports that activists, which include students, said they feel ‘unsafe’ in the city being called out as communist rebels. He also initiated a consultation with red-tagged personalities before issuing the directive.
Why we fact-checked this: A just and legal directive from a local chief executive for its constituents to live without fear and express opinions without impediments, as enshrined in the Constitution, should not be misinterpreted or vilified.
The post has 830 reactions, 154 comments, and 264 shares as of this writing.
The details:
NTF-ELCAC seems to have an obsession with the MAKABAYAN bloc. Since its inception in 2016, this anticommunist task force has been consistently associating MAKABAYAN to CPP-NPA despite having no solid proof to date. Red-tagging, NTF-ELCAC’s favorite gameplay, puts lives and liberty in danger. [https://verafiles.org/…/vera-files-fact-sheet-dangers…]
On March 21, 2022, Spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa released a statement on NTF-ELCAC’s Facebook page expressing that Mayor Magalong’s directives to the local PNP are protecting CPP-NPA rebels under the guise of Kabataan Party-list. She also says, “Mayor, tamaan ka naman sana ng hiya sa ginagawa mo. Hindi na bale kung ang KABAG na mga urban operatives ng CPP NPA NDF ang nagsasabi ng mga pinagsasabi mo. Pero nanggagaling ang kasinungalingan na ito sa pinuno ng RTF ELCAC CAR/ RPOC CAR, dating Heneral ng PNP at graduate ng PMA.” [https://www.facebook.com/ntfelcac/posts/312460457652740]
Badoy’s statement came after Mayor Magalong issued a directive to City Director PCol. Glenn D. Lonogan to take down any tarpaulin or poster that implies or implicitly ties local activists to the communist movement and its military arm, the New People’s Army.
According to a Facebook post from Baguio City Public Information Office, a group of individuals have been maliciously exposed on social media accusing them of being communists. Hence, the mayor reiterated: “We assured them that here in Baguio they are safe and told them that we are going to undertake measures to assure their safety and that of their families.” [https://www.facebook.com/pio.baguio/posts/513582626798385]
The notorious red-tagging by NTF-ELCAC has silenced dissenters, mostly critics of the Duterte regime. With the controversial Section 29 of the RA 11479, anybody who is suspected to be collaborating with terrorist groups can be arrested and detained without warrant. [https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/…/20200703-RA-11479…]
Photo from the Philippine Star.
ADVERTISEMENT
