Joma accused of Red-tagging

MANILA – It is the Communist Party of the Philippines(CPP) founding chair Jose Maria “Joma” Sison who is to be blamed for identifying and “redtagging” militants and activists allied to their cause.

This, according, to Southern Luzon Command chief, Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., in response to the group’s complaint that activists, individuals and organizations have been red-tagged baselessly since the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in 2018.

“First, we did not redtag activists because it was Jose Maria Sison who redtagged them himself,” he said.

Parlade, in a statement, clarified that the govern

ment does not lump activists and militants into one group because activism is welcome in a democracy while terrorism is not.

He added that such lumping is the practice of communist terrorists as it is part of their formula for deception.

An Anakbayan member demanding for lower tuition fees, he said, is welcome in a democracy and world’s apart from a Kabataang Makabayan member, the underground component of Anakbayan, who shouts “rebolusyon ang solusyon sa lipunan”.

“Your deliberate misuse of the term ‘activist’ is the usual tactic of dragging unwitting and genuine activists into the trap, inciting them even more against government until they all convert into armed members of the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army-National Democratic Front),” said Parlade, also of the NTF ELCAC.

He added that this socalled “red-baiting” is a design of communist rebels and their allies, not the government.