Karapatan vehemently opposes the application for asylum of infamous red-tagger and self-proclaimed communist rebel Jeffrey Celiz. Despite his vociferous defense of state repression and mockery of human rights violations victims, Celiz has the gall to claim that he is being persecuted in the Philippines and is seeking asylum in Canada.
Celiz has repeatedly spread false or misleading information, red-tagged activists, human rights defenders and even journalists and served as a mouthpiece for the notorious National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). He had been in Canada for some time, soliciting money from the public to purportedly support his family and his fugitive life abroad before saying that he is now an asylum-seeker in that country.
“We call on the Government of Canada to reject Celiz’s asylum application. We are warning the public to be cautious of Celiz and his scamming activities online. He is hiding abroad using the asylum card when he is not qualified to be an asylum seeker. He should be ashamed, likening himself with those who are genuinely persecuted by the Duterte and Marcos governments,” said Maria Sol Taule, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General.
In December 2024, Celiz and former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Partosa Badoy were ordered by the Court to pay a total of PhP 2 million in damages to journalist Alfonso Tomas Araullo, after he and Badoy were found to have acted in clear bad faith for red-tagging Araullo, with gross recklessness and without regard for truth. To date, both Celiz and Badoy refuse to comply with the order of the court. Celiz is facing two more civil cases of the same nature.
“Like Harry Roque, Celiz and his cohorts from the NTF-ELCAC and SMNI are government instruments to further human rights violations through their relentless red-tagging. Celiz must stop being so overdramatic portraying that he is being persecuted in the Philippines. Let’s make things clear, Celiz is a human rights violator and not a victim,” ended Taule.