Thursday, October 19, 2017

Karapatan tells Duterte: Red tagging of activists gags dissent

From the often pro-CPP online publication the Davao Today (Oct 18): Karapatan tells Duterte: Red tagging of activists gags dissent


MALACANANG PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that progressive groups are “communists fronts,” is meant to gag dissent, a human rights group said on Wednesday, October 18.

The President previously said that transport group Piston, labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno and human rights group Karapatan are legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

But Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay refuted the President’s claim as a rehash statement which exposes human rights defenders in this country to various rights violations.

“Pres. Duterte is barking like a mad dog again,” she said. “His statement is not new; it is a tired, unoriginal label that attempts to subvert the public attention from the legitimate campaigns forwarded by these organizations.”

According to Palabay, branding progressive groups as communist fronts is part of the government’s counter-insurgency programs with the object to quash disagreement towards Duterte’s policies.

Karapatan reported about 41 human rights activists killed since 2001 during the term of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo under the government’s counter-insurgency program “Oplan Bantay Laya.” It resulted to the killing of Eden Marcellana and Benjaline Hernandez who were tagged as communist rebels.

The killings and illegal arrests continued during the Aquino administration which subsequently implemented “Oplan Bayanihan.” It resulted in a number of attacks against human rights workers, the group added.

Karapatan criticized Duterte for resorting to red-tagging “since he could not deliver his campaign promises.”

As such, the human rights group asked the President to keep up his promises on several issues, including the dismantling of labor contractualization, among others.

http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/karapatan-tells-duterte-red-tagging-of-activists-gags-dissent/

1 comment:

  1. Give me a break. A well known Communist Party of the Philippines human rights umbrella front organization KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) has the temerity to criticize President Duterte when he speaks the truth and identifies so-called "progressive" groups for what they really are, CPP fronts. These groups are fraudulent deceivers. They pretend to be nonpartisan "progressive" groups when in reality their mission is exploit political, sectoral, and cause-oriented issues and vulnerabilities within Philippine society in an effort to undermine the central government in Manila and support the CPP/NDF/NPA objective of forcefully seizing power through peasant-based guerrilla war that surrounds the cities from the countryside.

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