'Red tagging' complaint vs. Badoy, Parlade, Esperon dismissed, says Ombudsman Martires

At least one complaint for alleged red-tagging filed against former government anti-insurgency task force officials Lorraine Badoy, Antonio Parlade Jr. and Hermogenes Esperon has been dismissed, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said Monday.

Facing lawmakers during a budget deliberation, Martires said Case Number 2022-006 against the three former officials was dismissed due to the absence of a law that criminalizes red-tagging, or the practice of linking individuals to or identifying them as communist rebels.

"Sa dami ng kasong iyon, hindi ko alam ano ang status, but those against Parlade, Badoy et. al... and Esperon with respect to 'red tagging,' sa kadahilanang wala namang batas na nagbabawal sa 'red tagging'," Martires said during deliberations on the Ombudsman's P5-billion proposed budget for 2024 before the House Committee on Appropriations.

Martires was responding to a question fielded by Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel.

"Walang 'red tagging' violation. Kung anti-graft ang ifa-file, para lang tayong nagpalusot," Martires added.

Manuel then countered that filing complaints due to "red-tagging" is not whimsical but a response to a real threat.

"Even in the absence of a law, individuals pursuing their advocacy in accordance with our laws should not be discriminated, subjected to 'red tagging' and harmed," Manuel said.

"May mga namatay na po dahil sa (People have been killed due to) 'red tagging.' The damage has been done. The government should not tolerate this and enable 'red tagging.' We should be proactive in this matter and serve justice," he said.

Martires then vowed to update the committee on the status of at least six cases involving the three former government officials, who all served in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC). —KBK, GMA Integrated News