Zarate says he is not a CPP member, defends Makabayan bloc from red-tagging

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate on Tuesday denied being a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines as he denounced the military's red-tagging of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives.

"Tahasan kong sinasabi sa komiteng ito Mr. Chair na hindi ako miyembro ng Communist Party of the Philippines o CPP. Hindi ako rebelde at hindi ako miyembro ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines," Zarate said in a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on National Defense.

"Tahasan ko ring pinasisinungalingan na ang aking partido, ang Bayan Muna, ay creation at kontorolado ng Communist party of the Philippines," he added.

He stressed that Bayan Muna and members of the Makabayan bloc in the lower chamber are legitimate groups that believe in parliamentary struggle to advance meaningful social reforms.

Zarate said the Makabayan bloc lawmakers belong to the top 10 most active congressmen, in terms of the number of legislative proposals, in the House.

Former Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño, who was also identified as a CPP member by one of the security sector's witnesses during the last hearing, refuted the allegations against him.

"I'm not engaged in the armed struggle. I do not support or espouse the violent overthrow of the state and I do not recruit for the New People's Army or any armed group," he said during the same hearing.

"Hindi po ako rebelde, Mr. Chair, hindi po ako terorista, at hindi po ako front ng mga rebelde o terorista. Ako po ay isang aktibista," he added.

Casiño said the allegations of self-confessed NPA member Jeffrey Celiz was malicious and unfair, as he warned that red-tagging endangers lives and kills democratic participation.

"Ito po ang panganib ng red tagging: pararatangan kang komunista, terorista, communist front, o kasabwat ng mga komunista upang ikaw ay takutin, dungisan ang pangalan, palabasing sangkot ka sa ilegal na gawain, at i-set up sa mga gawa-gawang kaso o mas matindi, para bigyang katwiran ang iyong pagpatay," Casiño said.

"Red tagging is guilt by association with our accusers playing the role of judge, jury and executioner," he added.

Further, Casiño said the intensified red-tagging propaganda of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is "aimed to prepare public opinion for the eventual designation and proscription" of militant organizations as terrorist groups and for the criminalization of legitimate dissent.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, chair of the committee conducting the inquiry, gave two hours to Makabayan bloc and other militant personalities to air their rebuttal to the claims that the security sector made during the previous one. —KBK, GMA News