THE National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) over the weekend justified the red-tagging of activists were meant to deflect “terrorist-grooming” efforts of underground organizations where victims are systematically recruited and radicalized.
In a statement issued on Saturday afternoon, NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres said such efforts pose a threat to the safety of the nation and its people.
“The government’s primary duty is to shield the Filipino people from all threats jeopardizing their life and liberty, safeguarding the foundation of Filipino society. Terrorist-groomers have specialized skills that they have honed through the years to manipulate and control radicalized individuals to embrace the armed struggle for a violent government takeover,” Torres stressed.
“These deceptive organizations do not have the interests of the Filipino people at heart; instead, they thrive on the suffering of innocent individuals, deceiving them to join their corrupt cause and perish needlessly for it,” he said, adding that front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF have been recruiting “innocent Filipinos” into the armed movement to “carry out terrorist activities nationwide.”
In the same statement, Torres said the Supreme Court (SC) decision granting a writ of amparo on red-tagged former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Siegfred Deduro would allow the military to present evidence on his connections with the communist movement.
In welcoming the High Court’s ruling, Torres said: “We look at this decision as an opportunity for the respondent to present witnesses and evidence regarding Deduro’s connections with the CPP-NPA-NDF.”
Deduro sought the writ of amparo after the military in June 2020 identified him as an alleged member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.
Deduro said the officers were under the command of Maj. Gen. Eric Vinoya, then the commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. He alleged that posters were put up in Iloilo City, labeling him as a criminal, terrorist, and a member of the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front.
He initially sought relief before the Iloilo trial court, which dismissed the petition.
“The SC’s decision shed light on the RTC’s procedural lapse in dismissing the case without requiring the respondent to file a return, thereby depriving the State due process,” Torres said, noting that the High Court, in its ruling, likewise said that the Iloilo court erred in dismissing the case without requiring Vinoya to file a return.
In effect, he said, the decision reversed the Iloilo City court’s ruling and remanded the case to the lower court for the conduct of summary hearings.
Torres said the task force’s Legal Cooperation Cluster has explained to him that the SC has yet to make a “categorical ruling on the merits” of the case as “the Regional Trial Court is still yet to determine the relevance and consistency of the evidence by both parties in resolving the petition.”
“The SC’s intervention after the RTC’s dismissal emphasized the critical nature of due process and the safeguarding of individual rights, which we value and continue to uphold,” said Torres.
