NUPL asks SC to note red-tagging, adopt protection mechanism for lawyers

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on Friday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to adopt protection mechanisms for human rights lawyers, following an alleged red-tagging incident by the anti-insurgency task force.

According to Atty. Josalee Deinla, a witness in a Manila court case submitted an official document from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that labeled the NUPL as a front organization.

“Marii naming kinokondena ‘yung practice na hindi na lang siya nangyayari sa social media, hindi na lang nangyayari sa live broadcast, no, sa radyo… kung hindi sa mismong legal proceedings,” she said in an ambush interview.

(We also condemn the practice that it is no longer just happening on social media, no longer just happening on live broadcasts, on radio… but in the actual legal proceedings.)

Deinla declined to provide details regarding the court case, saying it is an ongoing proceeding.

The NUPL submitted a letter addressed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo asking the High Court to take note of the red-tagging incident “within the context of a pending civil case.”

It also asked the SC to consider adopting a concrete protection mechanism for lawyers under threat, which are modeled after international standards.

Aside from this, they asked the SC to convene a dialogue between the Bench, the Bar, and civil society organizations to formulate institutional safeguards that preserve independence, security, and dignity of the legal profession.

“It is gravely alarming that lawyers are being targeted and endangered by fellow lawyers acting under the cloak of state authority,” the NUPL said in a statement.

“The misuse of judicial proceedings to disseminate incendiary narratives against members of the legal profession is contrary to the most basic tenets of justice, fairness, and due process,” it added. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News