The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has voiced strong opposition to the proposed Anti-Red-Tagging Bill, arguing that it does not serve as a safeguard for democracy but rather acts as a dangerous shield for those who enable terrorism under the guise of legality.
The task force expressed that while the bill is framed as a protection against malicious labeling, it poses a threat to legitimate national security disclosures, potentially criminalizing the voices of former rebels and victims of insurgency. Furthermore, they argue it could embolden the underground networks of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), which thrive on deception and infiltration.
On Tuesday, ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co filed House Bill 213, which seeks to penalize red-tagging in the country. Under this measure, public officials or employees found guilty of red-tagging could face up to six years in prison. If red-tagging results in injury, death, or enforced disappearance, harsher penalties under the Revised Penal Code would apply, including charges of physical injury or murder.
“Let us be clear – this bill does not protect the innocent. It protects those who exploit our freedoms to destroy them. It risks turning truth-tellers into criminals while shielding the enablers of insurgency under the cloak of victimhood,” stated NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. in a statement late Wednesday.
Torres emphasized that the measure could criminalize legitimate disclosures based on intelligence reports, sworn testimonies of former rebels, and the lived realities of communities once affected by communist terrorist influence. He warned that silencing those who expose front organizations and their connections to the CPP-NPA-NDF would empower deception and enable impunity.
“There is nothing democratic about protecting organizations that radicalize children, extort farmers, and infiltrate legal institutions,” he added. “If passed, this bill will gag our security forces, silence our communities, and embolden the architects of subversion.”
Torres clarified that the NTF-ELCAC is not a repressive body but a nationwide peace-building movement. The task force has reportedly helped bring peace and development to over 9,300 formerly conflict-ridden barangays, facilitating the surrender and reintegration of thousands of former rebels. Through the Barangay Development Program, the anti-insurgency body has invested PHP36.82 billion into communities, with an additional 4,506 barangays set to benefit between 2026 and 2028.
“These gains were not won through censorship or propaganda, but through painful truths, bold governance, and unyielding resolve. To now suggest that exposing terrorist support networks is a criminal act is to betray everything we have fought for,” Torres stated.
The NTF-ELCAC also criticized the selective indignation of the bill’s proponents, questioning their silence regarding the recruitment of children into armed conflict, the exploitation of rural communities through revolutionary taxation, and the sexual abuse of women within underground cadres. “Where were the so-called defenders of rights when innocent lives were shattered by the very groups they now protect? Who raised their voices when student activists were buried with NPA fighters in the hills?” Torres asked.