Tribune enables red-tagging, mum on SC decision

JEERS TO the Daily Tribune for its dubious position on red-tagging. It was the only newspaper that did not report on the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court defining red-tagging and the dangers those red-tagged faced. 

While other news organizations reported the ruling on the day it was released, the Daily Tribune reported on May 11 only as part of an account about a lawmaker expressing support for the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), which has been involved in red-tagging itself. All other media promptly reported on the ruling and sustained coverage until a week after, May 14. The Tribune reported on it once without discussing the significance or the details of the ruling.

On May 8, 2024, the Supreme Court publicized a July 4, 2023 decision that declared red-tagging as a “threat to a person’s right to life, liberty, or security.” 

The Tribune published an article that focused on the support of Manila Representative Ernesto Dionisio Jr.’s statement that NTF-Elcac should not be abolished. 

All other media reported on the decision, citing what groups had to say about the development, including Human Rights Watch, Free Legal Assistance Group, National Union of People’s Lawyers, and Karapatan. The Liberal Party, the Makabayan bloc, and the Commission on Human Rights were also cited in articles. 

The groups above welcomed the ruling, adding that there should be a law against red-tagging and calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to publicly endorse the ruling. Media outlets also reported NTF-Elcac’s comment, saying that the decision gives both parties a chance to “present witnesses and evidence gathering.” 

CMFR notes how media outlets, usually print, have previously aided the deadly tactic of red-tagging. In its content analysis of media and the 2022 elections, Tribune, along with Manila Standard, echoed the red-tagging by giving front-page treatment to the fact-checked allegations of Rodrigo Duterte, Ping Lacson, and now Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla against Leni Robredo. (See link: Politics in full swing: As elections draw near, endorsements and controversies dominate local campaign news | CMFR and Fuel Crisis takes over front pages; print and online media report unverified campaign claims | CMFR) Tribune also published an editorial cartoon showing Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan with the communist hammer and sickle.

In October 2020, the Manila Times published an editorial cartoon that showed the ‘many faces of communists’ with one of the masks in the cartoon labeled as ‘journalists.’ Journalists slammed this cartoon and said it “parrotted the government’s red-tagging.”

Red-tagging affects many citizens, including journalists. These can lead to harassment, arrests and violent attacks, even killings. Newsrooms should be sensitive to any development on the protection of the public’s rights and freedoms, including their own. It is a huge disappointment that a news organization would fail in this respect.