Bayan Muna's Zarate: Duterte's 'red-tagging' part of election strategy vs. Robredo

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate on Wednesday said President Rodrigo Duterte’s call not to vote for the Makabayan bloc because of their alleged ties with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is an election strategy against the opposition.

Zarate made the remark following Duterte’s statement on Tuesday that party-list groups Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela are “supporting or are really [like] legal fronts” of the CPP.

“We certainly condemn this. The chief red-tagger, President Duterte, is doing it again,” Zarate said on ANC.

“This is actually not new, but what is condemnable is clearly, they are doing this in this time of election to not only attack the Makabayan bloc, but attack the entire opposition,” he added.

Zarate cited an instance wherein the administration, through the National Task Force to End the Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has alleged that the CPP had expressed support for Vice President Leni Robredo’s bid for the presidency.

He stressed that such a “conspiracy” by Duterte developed considering that the Makabayan bloc has declared its support for Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis Pangilinan.

The Makabayan bloc previously said that the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem stood out as the "real opposition" to former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., and presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in the May 9 polls.

“This is really clearly a partisan, political ploy coming ex cathedra from Malacañang itself. Despite the so-called neutral stand of Duterte of not endorsing yet a candidate, it’s very clear his candidate is the son of the former dictator, the Marcos Jr., and they want to destroy this early the opposition, the broad opposition that is now coming together to oppose the continuation of the Duterte governance, as well as the coming of Marcos’ dictator style of governance,” Zarate said.

Meanwhile, Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas said that the recent claims of Duterte “constitute his desperate last-ditch attempts to silence progressive groups” ahead of the elections.

“We see nothing but desperation in Duterte's recycled red-tagging claims against Gabriela party-list and the entire Makabayan bloc, especially as it was issued a few weeks before the May 9 polls,” she said in a statement.

“Paghudyat ito sa panibagong bugso ng harassment, pananakot at pagpapatahimik sa mga kampanyador at taga-suporta ng Makabayan bloc partylists (this signals another wave of harassment, intimidation, and silencing of campaigners and supporters of the Makabayan bloc partylists). We will never allow this. Duterte and his cohorts in the NTF-ELCAC should stop endangering the lives of civilians who are merely espousing the politics of change by the Makabayan bloc,” she added.

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena also denounced Duterte’s claim, saying it was a “heightened red-tagging against the patriotic and democratic forces and the leading political opposition parties.” 

“Duterte is making a fool of Filipinos by insisting on his baseless claims that these party-list groups are 'communist fronts.’ Duterte and Badoy are barefaced liars. Binobo nila ang mga tao (they are making a fool of the people),” he said in a statement.

However, Malacañang said that Duterte has the basis to link the party-lists under the Makabayan bloc to communist rebels as he has access to sensitive information from the intelligence community.

Valbuena added that Duterte's tirades against the bloc are part of his “scenario-building for possibly resorting to martial law or a form of emergency rule, in the face of mounting ‘people's rallies’ in support of the leading political opposition.”

“Is it not ironic that while the NTF-ELCAC wants the NPA to surrender its arms and instead 'work within the system', they are pushing the legal democratic forces out of the election arena and the increasingly narrow democratic space?” Valbuena asked.

"As the anger of the people mounts against Duterte and his 'chosen one' in the May 2022 elections, the opposition represented by these groups meanwhile continue to break ground. This is causing Duterte and his generals to panic,” he added. 

Several members of the Makabayan bloc on Friday filed a criminal complaint against the NTF-ELCAC officials and its spokesperson Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy for allegedly red-tagging Robredo.

They accused Badoy of engaging in partisan political activity, which is prohibited under the Omnibus Election Code and the Administrative Code of 1987, after she linked Robredo to the communist rebels in a March 14 statement. 

Robredo previously belied claims that she would form a coalition government with the CPP, the New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF). —KG/VBL, GMA News