MANILA, Philippines — Makabayan bloc members on Friday filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) election-related charges against anticommunist task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy and eight of its officials after the organization linked party-list groups and presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo to the communist movement.
The complainants are incumbent lawmakers Kabataan partylist Rep. Sarah Elago, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Act Teachers Rep. France Castro. Also joining the lawmakers are Satur Ocampo, President of Bayan Muna; Teddy Casiño, Bayan Muna vice chair; Ariel Casilao, president of Anakpawis; and Roberto De Castro, deputy secretary general of Makabayan.
Castro, Casilao, and Casiño personally went to the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila to file the charges.
Their complaint was based on NTF-Elcac’s two separate statements.
On March 14, NTF-Elcac statement, through Badoy, alleged that Robredo made a pact with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Another NTF-Elcac statement through Badoy dated March 21 also alleged that party-list groups Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, Act Teachers, and Gabriela are “urban operatives” of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
The aforementioned party-list groups are seeking reelection in the upcoming polls.
The complainants said that the act of issuing the subject statement that constitutes as “political advertisement” or “election propaganda” is an election offense under the Omnibus Election Code, pointing that what the NTF-Elcac does is “negative campaining” against the party-list groups.
The complainants said that the respondents, through Badoy, “deliberately, willfully, and willingly issued and released the statements … not only to campaign against the various candidates mentioned, but to intimidate the general public for them to refrain or desist from participating in campaign rallies of the said targeted candidates or from casting of votes in favor of said candidates.”
Aside from Badoy, the following officers of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) were also included in the complaints:
- Marlo Iringan, undersecretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government and head of local government empowerment cluster, sectoral unification, capacity building, and empowerment cluster, basic services cluster, and localized peace engagement cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Angelita Miranda, assistant solicitor general and head of legal cooperation cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Alex Monteagudo, director-general of the national intelligence coordinating agency and head of situational awareness and knowledge management cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Gabriel Luis Quisumbing, deputy director-general of the technical education and skills development authority and head of poverty reduction, livelihood and employment cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Maximo l. Carvajal, undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways and head of infrastructure, resource management, and employment cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Nonita Caguioa, undersecretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and head of infrastructure, resource management, and employment cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Cesar Yano, undersecretary of the Department of National Defense and head of localized peace engagement cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Reynaldo Mapagu, undersecretary of the Department of National Defense and head of e-clip and amnesty program cluster of the NTF-Elcac
- Brigido Dulay, undersecretary of the Department Foreign Affairs and head of international engagement cluster of the NTF-Elcac
It can be recalled that three separate charges were also filed against Badoy before the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday, seeking her preventive suspension from office for similar grounds.
READ: Complaints lodged in Ombudsman vs NTF-Elcac spox
Badoy, however, was unfazed with the charges.
“Guys, do your homework. You have to really know who you are trying to scare. I am not scared of anything like that, in fact I tell you I welcome it,” Badoy said over her program in SMNI on Thursday in reaction to charges filed before the Ombudsman.