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Sealed Mouths: People labeled as Red Tags
In the Philippines, anyone who criticizes the government can be red tagged. The regime’s campaign includes falsely accusing journalists, activists, community leaders, and politicians of being members of or involved in the NPA. The government often starts by spreading lies or fake news about targets on public posters, television programs, or social media channels, branding them as terrorists or communist members or sympathizers. These widespread fabrications are often followed by threats or physical surveillance, eventually leading to attacks, arrest, detention, or death by security forces or “unidentified persons/groups.”
People Labeled as Red Tagged
Irish Inoceto
was also red-tagged while advocating for the transgender community and gender-affirming policies in schools.
Kimberlie Ngabit-Quitasol
was also red-tagged and charged with cyberlibel.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio
Frenchie Mae Cumpio
was a community radio broadcaster known for her coverage of alleged abuses and human rights violations by State security forces.
Angelo Karlo
“Human rights is a very dangerous field”
Red-tagging has contributed to the shrinking of civic space, as it enforces a chilling effect on civil society. Journalists and media organisations have also been associated with the communist movement for reporting on the military conflict. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap), and members of the Altermidya-People's Media Network have all been red-tagged by NTF-Elcac and its previous executives on television network SMNI.
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) claimed that red-baiting has only heightened the threats that Filipino journalists undergo. As stated by CMFR "red baiting has had a deleterious effect on the exercise of press freedom vital to truth telling and democratic discourse."
Irish Inoceto
Irish Inoceto
Irish Inoceto, chair of the Iloilo Pride Team, was also red-tagged for advocating for the transgender community and gender-affirming policies in schools. SMNI falsely accused Inoceto of being a member of the Communist Party and weaponizing the Queer agenda to recruit members for communist groups.
Kimberlie Ngabit-Quitasol
Kimberlie Ngabit-Quitasol
Another journalist, Kimberlie Ngabit-Quitasol of Northern Dispatch, was also red-tagged and charged with cyberlibel. Fortunately, after two years, the case initiated against her and a colleague by the former regional police head was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Scores of red-tagged journalists have been forced to relocate as a security precaution, jeopardizing their needed work.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio
Frenchie Mae Cumpio
Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a 24-year-old Philippine community journalist and executive director of the independent news website Eastern Vista, was sentenced in prison for three years as of February 2023. In 2020, the Philippine government accused her of illegally possessing firearms and explosives; Cumpio was reportedly denied "the right to present evidence and prove the utter falsehoods against her." She also faces politically motivated terror finance charges, which could result in a 40-year prison sentence if convicted. Cumpio is one of the journalists "red-tagged" by the Philippine regime.
Angelo Karlo Guillen
Angelo Karlo Guillen
Angelo Karlo “AK” Guillen, was also red-tagged and threatened countless times. For years, Guillen advocated against the Anti-Terrorism law and worked as the counsel for indigenous people in prominent cases, including nine who were killed by police in December 2020. In December 2018, his photograph was featured in posters across Iloilo city, falsely labeling him as a member of the terrorist entity NPA, which has been declared as a terrorist entity by the Philippines regime. Two years later, in 2021, two men stabbed him as he was exiting his car.
Since 2016, numerous human rights defenders, activists, and journalists have been executed after being red-tagged. Before the national election in May 2022, journalists, activists, and rights groups urged the next president-elect to put an end to this practice. However, red-tagging and systematic persecution persist.
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