Red-tagging threatens person’s right to life, liberty, security: SC

From Malaysia Business Insight (May 8, 2024): Red-tagging threatens person’s right to life, liberty, security: SC (By Ashzel Hachero)

THE Supreme Court (SC) for the first time has explicitly defined and explained what “red-tagging” is as it granted the writ of amparo sought by a red-tagged activist who was also a former militant party-list representative.

In an en banc decision dated July 4, 2023 but made public only on May 7, the magistrates held that red baiting or tagging threatens the right to life, liberty and security of the person who has been tagged.

The SC held that inherent in the practice of red tagging is the use of threats and intimidation to discourage “subversive” activities.

“Whether such threats ripen into actual abduction or killing of supposed ‘reds’ is largely uncertain. It is at this phase where the petitioner is at risk of enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing when the writ of amparo becomes necessary. Owing to the covert nature of red-baiting, the judge must carefully discern whether the petition clearly contains amorphous grounds,” it said.

“When it appears that there is a substantial likelihood that the labelling of petitioner as a subversive might result in an abduction or killing, the nature and purpose of the writ justify its preliminary issuance, along with the order for the respondent/s to file a return to further evaluate the genuineness and authenticity of the threat,” it added.

The en banc said the damages inflicted by red tagging also evolve, starting from the psychological before they turn physical.

Previous SC rulings on writ of amparo petitions by red-tagged activists did not make a clear definition of what red tagging is.

WRIT OF AMPARO

In its decision, the High Court granted the writ of amparo sought by Siegfred Deduro, who is an activist and a former Bayan Muna party-list representative during the 12th Congress.

A writ of amparo (a Spanish word that means protection) is a special writ to protect or enforce a constitutional right other than physical liberty, while a writ of habeas data is a petition asking the court to compel the respondent to delete or destroy damaging information.

Deduro had claimed that on June 19, 2020, in a meeting of the Iloilo Provincial Peace and Order Council attended by Gov. Arthur Defensor and members of the media, military officers gave a presentation where he, among others, was explicitly identified as a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.

He said the military officers were under the command of Maj. Gen. Eric Vinoya, the commanding officer at the time of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division headquartered in Camp Jamindan in Capiz.

The military’s allegation was later reported by Bombo Radyo Iloilo and the Philippine News Agency.

Deduro said posters were put up in different locations in Iloilo City, with his image labeled as a criminal, terrorist, and member of the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front.

He also said unidentified men followed him on several occasions.

Deduro initially sought protective relief from Branch 24 of the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court, which denied his plea on October 2020. The court found his allegations of red-tagging insufficient to be considered threats to his life, liberty, and security.

This prompted Deduro to elevate the case to the SC, which ruled in his favor.

The High Court, through Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, said it found prima facie evidence to grant Deduro’s plea.

“Contrary to the RTC’s ruling… we find that the Petition and its allegations, on its face, merit the issuance of a writ,” the en banc ruling said, adding that the writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.

The en banc stressed that even if Deduro was not subjected to an actual extrajudicial killing or enforced disappearance, “such lack does not disqualify his claim for the right to security.”

The magistrates also said the petition contains “sufficient allegations” upon which the RTC could grant the issuance of the writ, adding that aside from his personal circumstances, Deduro also alleged facts that constitute threats to his life, liberty and security such as the red-tagging by military officers.

The en banc cited the red-tagging and vilification of Mandaluyong City RTC Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio in two tarpaulins that were hung on footbridges along EDSA after she dismissed the illegal possession of firearms charges against activists Lady Ann Salem and Rodrigo Esparago in 2021.

The SC at the time responded to Quisumbing-Ignacio’s red-tagging by issuing a rare, strongly-worded statement condemning threats and killings of lawyers and judges.

“Even as we then condemned in the strongest sense every instance where a lawyer is threatened or killed, and where a judge is threatened and unfairly labeled, we now emphatically declare that we do not view the lives of civilians as less precious than that of lawyers and judges. We considered a tarpaulin connecting a judge to the CPP as a threat. With equal fervor, we hold that a similar tarpaulin harping on alleged ties between civilians and the CPP is also a threat,” the SC said.

The en banc also said that by dismissing the petition without requiring Vinoya to first file a return, the RTC effectively denied both parties’ due process.

“The petition filed before the RTC is thus neither manifestly groundless nor lacking in merit. It was an error for the RTC to cursorily dismiss the case without requiring respondent to file a return. The RTC effectively denied both parties’ due process: it not only prevented petitioner from fully ventilating his cause, but it also deprived the State of the opportunity to effectively define its side on the matter,” it ruled.

It also stressed that although while it is uncertain whether “red-baiting” threats ripen into actual abduction or killing of supposed “reds,” Deduro should not be expected to “await his own abduction, or worse, death, or even that the supposed responsible persons directly admit their role in the threats to his life, liberty, or security.”

https://malaya.com.ph/news_news/red-tagging-threatens-persons-right-to-life-liberty-security-sc/