KARAPATAN welcomes the probe on red-tagging in Mindanao held on November 11 and 12, 2024 by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The activity is part of a series of the public inquiry on red-tagging being conducted by the CHR in different areas of the country that began in July 2024.
In Southern Mindanao, ten individuals, including detained human rights worker Jay Apiag and Rosiele Lariosa, wife of missing trade union organizer William Lariosa, executed affidavits detailing their experiences with red-tagging. The depositions were taken by attorneys affiliated with the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM).
Apiag, former secretary general of KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao, recounted at least four instances of being red-tagged in 2020 and 2021 through bond-paper size posters displayed in several public places in Davao City as well as in social media posts, where his photograph was shown and he and his organization were labeled “terrorist,” among others.
In July and August 2020, he had written the CHR to request an investigation and lodge a complaint because of escalating cases of red-tagging in the region, where he and other human rights defenders in Southern Mindanao were vilified as “terrorist recruiters.”
Being red-tagged proved to be a concrete threat to Apiag’s security. He was arrested in August 2024 in Digos City, having been slapped with six trumped-up cases by the Duterte regime—four for attempted murder in the cities of Davao, Digos and Malaybalay and another case for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in another court in Malaybalay.
Rosiele Lariosa, on the other hand, reported that she and her family had been repeatedly harassed in 2022 and 2023 when Roberto Rosete, a former neighbor turned military asset accompanied by members of the NTF-ELCAC visited her in her house inquiring about the whereabouts of her husband William and urging his surrender. They claimed that William’s alias is “Marco.” When told of this visit, William told his wife that he would not surrender because he was not doing anything illegal. He was later abducted by soldiers accompanied by Rosete in April 2024 in Quezon, Bukidnon, where he was organizing farm workers.
“In these two cases,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay, “red-tagging culminated in unjust detention on trumped-up charges for Apiag and enforced disappearance for Lariosa.” The other affiants reported being constantly fearful for their safety after experiencing a series of red-tagging incidents.
“We hope that the CHR’s probe with victims in Mindanao and other regions will contribute to efforts to thoroughly expose red-tagging as a precursor of more grievous human rights violations and lead to concrete steps to eradicate it such as the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC and the confidential and intelligence funds, which had been criticized as source of funds for implementation of these notorious human rights violations,” concluded Palabay.