What red-tagging?
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) denied on Monday, March 15, allegations that it red-tagged an organization of government workers following the statement of Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Ferdinand Gaite who said that the group Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) has been linked to the communist rebels.
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Bernardo Florece Jr. said it was not the DILG which red-tagged COURAGE but Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison himself in one of his interviews in the past.
“In fact, the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency (NICA) has reported that COURAGE has been infiltrated by the Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino (MKP), an underground mass organization (UGMO) that advocates for armed struggle under the direct control of the CPP-NPA-NDF,’’ said Florece.
Gaite earlier called out the DILG, citing the memorandum of DILG Assistant Secretary for Public Safety and Security Alexander Macario that supposedly “red-tagged” the group that Gaite.
But Florece said they would rather focus their attention on the pandemic: “The DILG has its hand full fighting the pandemic for more than a year now that it has no time and energy to engage in his wild schemes."