Bayan Muna wants CHR to look into alleged fake mass surrender of rebels in Bulacan

Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares on Friday asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to look into the alleged mass surrender of supposed communist rebels in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan last month.

In a letter to CHR chairperson Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Colmenares claimed that this event, attended by Central Luzon police chief Police Brigadier General Valeriano de Leon, Bulacan police chief Police Colonel Lawrence Cajipe, Bulacan regional mobile force battalion 3 officer-in-charge Police Lieutenant Colonel Fitz Macariola, and San Jose Del Monte Mayor Arthur Robes, was fake.

He said state forces presented supposed members of Bayan Muna and urban poor group Kadamay and tagged them as "sectoral front organizations utilized by the communist terrorist group (CTG) as their source of manpower in the conduct of street rallies and demonstrations or mass mobilizations against the government."

"Clearly, this is yet another instance of the continuous efforts of the NTF-ELCAC to vilify, demonize, and red tag Bayan Muna, the members of the House Makabayan Bloc and progressive organizations, in their vain attempt to stifle dissent against the Duterte administration," Colmenares said, asking CHR to come up with a resolution on the matter.

According to Colmenares, those who surrendered had also received the government assistance "in exchange for their role in this vilification campaign."

"The surrenderees, we were also informed, are often coerced to sign documents stating that they condemn our organizations, in exchange for a token amount of aid," the Bayan Muna chairman said.

"The unbridled use of government funds to publicly discredit and harass legal organizations is highly deplorable," he added.

Colmenares said the use of government funds and position were clear violations of rights such as presumption of innocence, freedom of expression, and the right to redress grievances to the government.

GMA News Online asked the police for comment regarding the matter but it has yet to reply as of posting time.

Some progressive and activist groups have been linked to the communist group by some officials of the government.

The Philippine National Police had insisted before that red tagging is not a practice within the organization. The national government also maintains that their officials are "truth taggers."—AOL, GMA News