Neri Colmenares seeks CHR's help amid government surveillance

Former Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares has sought protection from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) amid the surveillance being conducted on him by government security forces.

"Sumulat ako sa CHR kasi sa karanasan namin biglang nagri-raid sila (government security forces) tapos may nakikitang baril, may nakikitang mga iligal na materyal," Colmenares said in Chino Gaston's report on Balitanghali on Wednesday.

"So sumulat ako sa CHR, sabi ko you can inspect our house anytime and as frequent as you like... para ipakita na wala kaming tinatago," he added. 

Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade, spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), recently admitted on national TV that Colmenares is under surveillance for his alleged links with communist rebels -- an accusation denied by the former lawmaker.

Aside from Colmenares, members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives are also under surveillance for the same reason, according to Parlade, also the commander of the military's Southern Luzon Command.

Makabayan members condemned the surveillance and Parlade's "red-tagging" of them. —KBK, GMA News