Mountain Province cop says sorry for red-tagging groups

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The provincial police director of Mountain Province, Maj. Jerry Haduca, has apologized to several people’s organizations in the Cordillera after police in Sagada town distributed flyers branding their groups as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Haduca said his office failed to prevent the release of the leaflets during Sagada’s recent town fiesta.

In a dialogue with the groups last month, Haduca said they would verify the sources of the information contained in the flyers and “correct what is wrong.”

The flyers listed the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), Innabuyog, Gabriela, Mountain Province Research Development, Inayan Watch, APIT TAKO Montañosa as fronts of the CPP and recruiters of the New People’s Army (NPA) and National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Also listed in the leaflets are the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Katribu, Bayan Muna and several other progressive groups.

Windel Bolinget, CPA chair, said: “Our organizations are neither members of the CPP nor recruiters of the NPA. Labeling our organizations as fronts of the CPP and NPA recruiters is red-tagging, political vilification and is putting our security and lives in danger,” Bolinget said during the dialogue.

—Kimberlie Quitasol