CNN Philippines: Badoy’s ‘baseless’ red-tagging remark sows disunity

CNN Philippines on Saturday decried the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson's response to its post sharing the League of Filipino Students' call for donations to typhoon victims.

In a social media post, Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy shared an image of CNN's retweet of LFS' call for donations with the remark, "CNN tweeting and retweeting the call for donations of LFS- a known front of the terrorist CPP NDA NDF.

"Wassup, CNN? Is it true there is a LFS/CEGP guild inside CNN?"

The other initialism refers to the College Editors' Guild of the Philippines.

In a statement, the network said Badoy's post insinuates that it has links to the organization, which she in turn accused of having links with communist rebels.

"CNN Philippines strongly objects to this misplaced and baseless allusion," the network said in a statement.

"We believe the back-to-back storm that ravaged our country serve as an opportunity to rise up from the ruins and practice the Filipino spirit of 'Bayanihan' in whatever capacity we can, rather than foray into red-tagging that will only sow disunity."

It added that it has also shared other groups' messages asking for donations for the victims of the recent typhoons.

The CEGP also released a statement that it "vehemently condemns" Badoy's post.

"We call them out for their repugnant behavior as the supposed public servants of the Filipino people," it said of Badoy and "other cohorts of Duterte."

"While the youth are exerting effort in these hard and trying times, opportunist government officials demonize youth groups' effort and label them as a terrorist instead of cooperating with the youth and providing assistance to the victims of the typhoon," it added.

"The Duterte administration must straighten their priorities to achieve a state that is united and not divided. These organizations are doing their best to provide people with the utmost care. What they need is support, not red-tagging from a moronic public servant."

The NTF-ELCAC appeared at a Senate hearing last week, denying that it is red-tagging and is instead "truth-tagging." — BM, GMA News