THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday accused a fellow government agency of “red tagging” the poll body, as it even as it issued a new policy prohibiting discriminatory and harassment acts during the campaign period for the May elections.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia the agency, which he declined to identify, sent a letter warning the poll body against issuing the new policy.
“When we had a draft of the guidelines, maybe they got a wind of it. They sent us a warning. I am using the word ‘warning’ based on the wordings in the letter,” said Garcia.
“When we were reading the letter, we felt like we are the ones being red tagged. We felt offended by the communication that we received from an agency of the government,” he added.
The poll chief said they see nothing wrong with the policy as they will be implementing the ruling of the Supreme Court that such acts are forms of harassment and intimidation.
“They (agency) told us that our interpretation is wrong. But that is the decision of the Supreme Court,” said Garcia.
While refusing to identify the red-tagging government agency, Garcia gave hints as to its identity.
“We included (in the guidelines the red tagging) and this may not be in accordance with the wishes of the government agency that is in charge of this,” said Garcia.
A government agency most accused of the red-tagging practice is the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which has accused numerous individuals ang groups of being communists.
Garcia advised the government agency to be careful in sending threats and warnings against the Commission.
“Don’t ever challenge the power of the Commission, especially this election. Our mandate is provided under the Constitution. We weren’t simply created by an executive order,” he said.
ANTI-DISCRIMNATION POLICY
The Comelec issued Resolution No. 11116, which provides the guidelines on the anti-discrimination and fair campaigning for the May 2025 polls.
Under the resolution, the Comelec said all election-related intimidation and harassment shall be considered as an election offense.
“During the election period, any person who, directly or indirectly, commit acts of bullying on the basis of HIV status, coercion, discrimination against women, discrimination against PWDs on the use of public accommodations, gender-based harassment, labeling, public ridicule against PWDs, vilification of PWDs, violation of an anti-discrimination ordinance, and/or violation of rights to religious, cultural sites, and ceremonies shall be liable for an election offense,” said the Comelec.
“These acts may be committed in person, through radio and/or television, newspaper, publication, internet, and other similar medium,” it added.
Under the guidelines, “labeling” refers to the act of categorizing, classifying, labeling, branding, associating, naming, and accusing groups and/or organizations as ‘vocal dissenters’ and activists or subversive group sympathizers or terrorists, or belonging to a criminal group/syndicate without evidence, in connection with or in relation to any election-related activity.”
Gender-based harassment, meanwhile, refers to any “unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks,” such as unwanted sexual, transphobic, homophobic and sexist remarks, against any person regardless of the motive, whether in-person or online, broadcast or print, for any election-related activity.
The Commission defined public ridicule against PWDs as an “act of making fun or contemptuous imitating or making mockery of persons with disability whether in writing, or in words, or in action due to their impairment/s.”
The Comelec said the violation of rights to religious, cultural sites, and ceremonies refer to the defacement, removal, or otherwise destruction, during the election period, of artifacts which are of great importance to the indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples for the preservation of their cultural heritage.
