MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police chief Gen. Debold Sinas has ordered an investigation of police officers involved in red-tagging of persons behind community pantries.
According to PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Olay, Sinas tasked the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Anti-Cybercrime Group, and the different police regional offices to look into reports of community pantry organizers being red-tagged.
“Pinagutos na rin niya (Sinas) kanina, nagusap kami kanina na imbestigahan ng CIDG at yung mga PROs, police regional offices, yung mga alleged red-agging, imbestigahan nila ‘yung sarili nilang tauhan at ang ating Anti-Cybercrime Group ay imbestigahan rin ang pagkakalat ng mga malisyosong text at ‘yung sa social media,” Olay said in a televised briefing Wednesday.
(We talked earlier and he has ordered the CIDG and police regional offices to investigate their own personnel over the alleged red-tagging. Our Anti-Cybercrime Group was also ordered to investigate the malicious texts and those posted on social media.)
Sinas himself has denied issuing orders for the police to profile organizers of community pantries that sprouted nationwide.
The Maginhawa community pantry on Tuesday paused its operations after its organizer Ana Patricia Non expressed fears after being red-tagged.
She cited Facebook posts from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) accusing her initiative of being a front for communist propaganda.
The QCPD has since apologized for sharing the post which red-tagged community pantries while the NTF-Elcac denied linking the initiative’s organizers to leftist groups.
Olay distanced from the NTF-Elcac’s activities and stressed that the PNP has no policy on both profiling and red-tagging community pantry organizers.
“I can only speak for the Philippine National Police. Kung ano man ‘yung activities ng Elcac ay wala akong concern doon. Basta ito ang kautusan ng ating hepe ay no profiling, no red-tagging,” Olay said.
(I can only speak for the Philippine National Police. Whatever activities Elcac has, I don’t have any concern about that. The chief’s order is no profiling, no red-tagging.)