PRESS RELEASE
29 September 2020
With the Duterte regime facing backlash after Facebook busted a fake news network of more than 100 social media accounts and pages linked to the police and the military, Filipino and foreign solidarity groups held a press conference on monday, 28 September 2020, to call for an end to harassments perpetrated against Filipino migrants rights’ advocates.
BAYAN USA and Gabriela USA chided PCOO Usec. Lorraine Badoy and the Philippine military for maliciously circulating photos of BAYAN and Gabriela leaders in the US along with labels tagging them as terrorists through facebook pages such as For the Global Public and Enlightened Youth. “This act of labelling, terror tagging and false accusations endangers our lives and security for us as leaders and for our Gabriela organizations,” Gabriela USA said in their statement.
Expressing solidarity for progressive Filipino migrant groups espousing national democracy, Joe Iosbaker of Chicago’s Committee to Stop FBI Repression said, “”In the Philippines, red tagging by the thugs of the Duterte regime have led to an untold number of deaths. We condemn it and we condemn the Duterte regime for his human rights abuses which are now far worse than the Marcos dictatorship.”
Speaking from Germany, Iglesia Filipina Independiente Bishop Antonio Ablon, who also currently serves as the coordinator for the Europe Network for Justice and Peace in the Philippines related how he, along with Marlon Lacsamana of Migrante Europe and Fatima Rico of Anakbayan Europe were tagged as terrorists by a certain Jeanette Angel Lopez. Bishop Ablon welcomed the recent EU resolution calling on European business entities to ensure that human rights are being observed in their business operations in the Philippines.
Members of the European Union parliament likewise sought the possibility of withdrawing preferential trade benefits being enjoyed by the Philippines. The bishop believes that the Duterte regime is retaliating against progressive Filipino migrant groups for their continuing response to Filipino migrant welfare issues and their lobbying work for justice and peace in the Philippines. This includes the human rights report brought to the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland last year resulting in the UN body’s call for a comprehensive report on the human rights violations specifically drug-related extrajudicial killings under the Duterte regime.
Fr. Rudolf Scheltinga of the Old Catholic Church’s St. Agnes Parish in Germany called for the red tagging and vilification of Filipino activists to stop as he lauded their efforts to fight for justice and human rights in the Philippines.
A year ago, members of Emilio Aguinaldo DDS group in Hong Kong started intensifying their attacks when UNIFIL-Migrante Hong Kong openly criticized Duterte for broken promises to migrant workers like the cancellation of the Overseas Employment Certificates requirement or OEC and providing jobs to Filipinos back home. They posted banners, distributed pamphlets and posted items on social media vilifying and terror tagging Migrante, BAYAN and Gabriela. They even became more aggressive by posting threats to deport them and harm their families.
Rev. Berlin Guerrero of BAYAN Australia said that early this year NTF ELCAC spokesperson Gen. Antonio Parlade and PCOO. Usec. Badoy arrived in Australia and conducted their so-called ‘Peace Forums’ in Sydney and Melbourne. “Their presentation had nothing to do with achieving just and lasting peace in the Philippines but on the Duterte regime’s counterinsurgency program which vilify and malign legitimate people’s organizations in the Philippines, in Australia and other parts of the world,” Guerrero said.
“With the 3,000% increase in NTF-ELCAC’s proposed 2021 budget from PHp 622.3 Million in 2020 to Php 19.1 Billion in 2021, they have more money to vilify Filipino citizens overseas. This is where our taxes go. Instead of allotting this money to help people affected by COVID-19 pandemic, they poured a large amount of budget to NTF-ELCAC. They are protecting Duterte from the people’s wrath due to his incompetence in responding to disasters and callousness to the people’s plight, so they slander us hoping that the people will believe their lies,” UNIFIL Migrante Hong Kong chairperson Dolores Pelaez enunciated.
Sister Patricia Fox, whose advocacies earned her animosity from the Duterte regime leading to her deportation said, “Migrante has been instrumental in helping the workers. Gabriela has taken up many issues like domestic violence and in terms of raising consciousness and of course, Anakbayan among the students. They’ve been making heroic efforts to provide various forms of support especially at this time of the pandemic. So the red tagging is so disgusting but it also shows that people are rising up in the Philippines and Filipinos around the world. We raise our voice even louder with the passage of the Anti-Terror Law. Filipinos overseas who dare to use their right to condemn brutality and injustice, this Anti-Terrorism Law reaches out even as far here so we stand in support of Filipinos as they struggle for justice, freedom and genuine democracy.”
Migrante International chairperson Joanna Concepcion welcomed Facebook’s removal of almost a hundred fake Facebook accounts and fake news pages. “This revealed to the Filipino people clear evidence of state-sponsored and funded online attacks, red tagging and mass deception. AFP and PNP deliberately tried to hide their identities and their ties to these fake accounts but were not successful. This proves that this is a coordinated and deliberate effort by the Duterte regime to mislead people and attack progressive organizations and individuals raising legitimate criticisms,” Concepcion stated.
The group likewise reiterated its demands for the junking of the Terror Law, the shutdown of fake news sites and fake accounts on Facebook and the abolition of the NTF ELCAC. It also expressed support for the continuing call of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the European Union parliament to end human rights violations and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
Concepcion also explained why calls by Filipino progressive groups for Duterte’s ouster and the junking of the terror law are part of the right to freedom of expression. “The 1987 constitution tells us that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. The Duterte government has been trampling on the law, the Philippine constitution. The passage of the Terror Law is one example. More than 30 petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the Terror Law. This Terror Law was passed right in the middle of a pandemic when the Philippine government should be attending to the economic and public health crisis. The Philippines now has the longest lockdown so the response of the Duterte government has really been a failure. With regards to the plan to postpone the 2022 elections, the pandemic should not be used by the government to suppress the rights of the Filipino people most especially our right to vote.”
During the press conference, a unity statement was launched to “demand an immediate stop to the tagging of activists and progressive organizations worldwide as ‘communist terrorist groups’ by the Duterte regime” as well as the continuing terror tagging being perpetrated by NTF ELCAC. The unity statement has so far already garnered signatories from 102 Filipino organizations from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region, North America and Europe. #
Unity Statement
Stop the Duterte Regime’s Terror-Tagging of
Migrant Rights’
Activists and Advocates
28 September 2020
We, the undersigned, demand an immediate stop to the tagging of activists and progressive organizations worldwide as “communist terrorist groups” by the Duterte regime.
Progressive, migrant-serving and human rights organizations and their leaders including Migrante International, United Filipinos in Hong Kong, BAYAN HK-Macau, GABRIELA HK, MIGRANTE Aotearoa, MIGRANTE Australia, Anakbayan Europe, GABRIELA USA and BAYAN USA have been the victims of such terror-tagging as a result of their continued services to migrants and overseas Filipinos, advocacy for human rights, democracy, and sovereignty in the Philippines. These attacks led to attempted deportation of a Filipino worker in Taiwan and are carried out through government officials’ Facebook pages, such as that of Lorraine Badoy, the Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and Spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Moreover, anonymous Facebook pages such as “For the Global Public” and “Enlightened Youth” are also used to spread false information and black propaganda.
Terror-tagging, or “red-tagging”, is a dangerous tactic used by fascist governments in an attempt to discredit individuals and organizations that express critical views. In the Philippines, red-tagging is used to justify harassment, arrests, and assasination by state forces and its armed goons. Jory Porquia, a former MIGRANTE International organizer abroad and coordinator in Iloilo City was killed inside his home after long series of redtagging. Zara Alvarez, a human rights worker who was placed on a government “terror-list” in 2018, was recently murdered this August. Similarly, Brandon Lee, an environmental activist who survived an assassination attempt by state agents in 2019, was vilified by the Philippine military for years prior. With Duterte’s Terror Law now in effect, we can only expect more brazen attacks.
As human rights abuses and poverty continue to worsen under the Duterte administration, it is important that Filipinos and their allies overseas continue to raise their voices against tyranny. We understand that this commitment to justice will only elicit further contempt from the Duterte administration. Despite this, we affirm our commitment to supporting and defending the necessary work bravely being done by the Migrante International, Anakbayan Europe, GABRIELA USA BAYAN USA and the many other progressive organizations fighting for genuine change in the Philippines.
Signed,
(Initial signatories of organizations)
BAYAN USA
MIGRANTE USA
GABRIELA USA
ANAKBAYAN USA
Asia -Pacific
Abra Migrant Workers Welfare Association
Association of Concerned Filipinos
BAYAN Hong Kong & Macau
Gabriela Women Organization Hong Kong Bank Chapter
GABRIELA Hong Kong
Filipino Migrant Worker’s Union
Filipino Friends
Filipino Lesbian Organization
Filipino Women Organization (FILWOM)
Filguys Gabriela Association
Friends of Bethune House
Likha Filipino Migrants Cultural Organization
Migrante Artista ng Bayan
Migrante Pier
Mission Volunteers (MOVERS)
Samahang Migrante
Sta Maria Migrants Association
Cuyapo OFW Association
Hong Kong
Filipino Migrant Domestic Workers Union
Filipino Migrants Association (FMA)
Filipino Mission-Ward Methodist
Filipino Women Migrant Association (FILWOM)
Luzviminda Migrante
Migrante Shatin
Migrante Tamar
Migrante Tsing Yi
Migrante Tsuen Wan
Migrante Tuen Mun
Migrante Visayas
Migrante Yuen Long
Organic Environmental & Cultural Organization
Pangasinan Organization for Welfare and Rights (POWER)
Philippine Independent Church- Choir
Pinatud A Saleng Ti Umili (PSU)
United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL MIGRANTE HK)
Promotion Of Church People Response (PCPR Hong Kong)
KASAMMAKO
MIGRANTE EPS
New Era Foundation
Pag-Iribang Bicolnon in Korea
Aguman Kapampangan
TERESA
Migrante Taiwan
Bayan Australia
Gabriela Australia – Victoria
Philippine Australia Womens Association (PAWA)
Gabriela Greater Sydney
Gabriela Central Coast
Gabriela Western Australia
Migrante Melbourne
Migrante Melbourne East
Migrante Melbourne North East
(Samahang Tatak Pinoy – STP)
Migrante Melbourne West
Migrante Southwest (Sydney)
Lingap North (Sydney)
Migrante Perth (WA)
Anakbayan Melbourne
Philippine Studies Network of Australia (PINAS)
Advance League of Peoples Artists (ALPA)
Promotion for Church Peoples Response – Australia
Philippine Caucus for Peace (PCP)
Europe
AnakBayan Europe
Campaign for the Human Rights in the Philippines – United Kingdom
Europe Network for Justice and Peace in the Philippines
Promotion of Church Peoples Response (PCPR) – Europe
Filipinol Ecumenical Migrants Ministry – IFI
Federation of Domestic Workers Association – United Kingdom
FOA-Au Pair (Denmark)
Gebriela Germany
Gabriela London, UK
Gabriela, Rome Italy
Gabriela Switzerland
Kanlungan Filipino Consortium – United Kingdom
Kasama Ko – Greece
Makabayang Samahang Pilipino – The Netherlands
Migrante Austria
Migrante Bologna
Migrante Como
Migrante Cyprus
Migrante Denmark
Migrante Firenze-Italy
Migrante Iceland
Migrante Ireland
Migrante-Mantova, Italy
Migrante-Milano, Italy
Migrante Amsterdam
Migrante-The Netherlands-The Hague
Migrante -Utrecht
Migrante Sectoral Partylist – Europe
Migrante-Zurich, Switzerland
Milan OFW Kapitbisig – Italy
Nagkakaisang Pilipino sa Pransya
Pinay sa Holland – Gabriela
Samahan ng mga Kabataan sa Netherlands
Ugnayang Pilipino sa Belgium
Umangat Migrante Italy
###########################
Reference:
- Joanna Concepcion, Chairperson, Migrante International,
PH contact number: 0908-129-28-51
Email: [email protected]—
Website: http://migranteinternational.org
Office Address: Episcopal Mission Center Compound, 275 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave, Brgy. Kalusugan, Quezon City