Ombudsman: No law against red-tagging, case vs Parlade, Badoy, Esperon dismissed

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 11) --- A complaint filed against former government anti-insurgency task force officials Lorraine Badoy, Antonio Parlade Jr. and Hermogenes Esperon was dismissed for lack of a law on criminalizing red-tagging, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Monday.

During the House hearing on the Office of the Ombudsman's proposed 2024 budget, Martires responded to Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel's inquiry on the status of red-tagging complaints against officials, including Parlade, Badoy, and Esperon.

"Sa dami ng kaso na 'yon, hindi ko alam kung ano 'yung status. But if the honorable congressman is referring to those cases against Parlade, Badoy, Esperon with respect to the red-tagging, those cases were already dismissed sa kadahilanan po na wala naman pong batas na nagbabawal sa red-tagging," the Ombudsman said.

"Walang 'red tagging' violation. Kung anti-graft ang ifa-file, para lang tayong nagpalusot," Martires added.

[Translation: With the many cases, I don't know what the status is. But if the honorable congressman is referring to those cases against Parlade, Badoy, Esperon with respect to the red-tagging, those cases were already dismissed for the reason that there is no law prohibiting red-tagging… There is no 'red tagging' violation. If we just file an anti-graft complaint, it's just like we're forcing it.]

Manuel said bills to criminalize red-tagging have been pending in Congress, while the Ombudsman should be more "proactive" in responding to the complaints rather than waiting for the law.

"Even in the absence of a law, individuals pursuing their advocacy in accordance with our laws should not be discriminated, subjected to 'red tagging' and harmed," he said.

"May mga namatay na po dahil sa (People have died due to) 'red tagging.' The damage has been done. The government should not tolerate this and enable 'red tagging.' We should be proactive in this matter and serve justice," he added.

The 2020 complaint against Parlade, Badoy, and Esperon asked the Ombudsman to hold the officials accountable for their "malicious abuse of authority and negligent performance of duties as public officials."