‘Don’t provide cover for CTGs,’ NTF-ELCAC tells De Lima
On plan to criminalize ‘red tagging’ when Congress convenes
THE National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has cautioned former senator Leila de Lima, from providing legal cover to the continued recruitment and ‘grooming’ of recruits and followers of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) thru its front organizations with her announced plan to “criminalize” ‘red-tagging.’
“As we confront the evolving threats posed by communist terrorist groups, particularly the CPP-NPA-NDF, we respectfully caution the good Congresswoman to be wary that her good intentions to protect civil liberties do not end up shielding the networks responsible for the radicalization, grooming, and exploitation of children, students, women, and indigenous communities,” said NTF-ELCAC executive director, Ernesto ‘Jun’ Torres in a statement on May 22.
De Lima, who won a partylist seat in Congress thru the ‘ML’ (Mamamayang Liberal), Partylist, had worked closely with known CPP front organizations during her time as chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) from 2008 to 2010 under the Macapagal Arroyo administration.
In a 2019 interview by ‘Rappler’ she conceded that she is “third cousin” to Juliet de Lima, the wife of deceased CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison. Juliet remains a member of the party’s Central Committee based in The Netherlands.
Torre urged de Lima and the members of the incoming 20th Congress to instead “prioritize laws that protect the Filipino people from recruitment into violent extremism, rather than inadvertently legalizing a cover for its machinery.”
“In this light, we look forward to the opportunity to engage Congress in crafting legislative measures that seek to criminalize organized recruitment, ideological grooming, and psychological manipulation of minors, students, women, and other vulnerable sectors into terrorist or insurgent activity,” the official added.
Comments are closed.