Teacher-solon condemns DepEd, PH Army of ‘red-tagging’

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro on Sunday condemned the alleged distribution of pamphlets which depicted students and rallyists as terrorists for opposing certain government policies.

A copy of the said flyers shared to members of the media included logos and social media pages of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) office in Rizal and the Army’s 80th Infantry Battalion.

The pamphlets illustrated how students could supposedly identify if the person approaching them in school is a recruiter of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) and the subsequent repercussions if they are recruited.

Castro stressed the dangers of red-tagging, saying it is a threat not only to the youth but also to the country’s democracy.

"This is a clear case of harassment and intimidation of our youth, and a blatant disregard of the Supreme Court's ruling that red-tagging is a dangerous practice that puts lives in peril,” the teacher-solon said.

“It is unacceptable that the military, and DepEd in coordination with the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict), is using taxpayers' money to spread disinformation and terrorize our students," she added.

Castro urged Congress to expedite measures banning red-tagging and to punish those who engage in such an activity.

“The government should focus on providing quality education and protecting our youth, not spreading fear and misinformation,” she said. 

GMA News Online sought for the comment of DepEd and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) regarding the matter, but they have yet to respond as of this story’s posting.—RF, GMA Integrated News