The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) used the term nine times in its July 2020 comprehensive report on the widespread killings in the Philippines under Duterte.
The term “red-tagging” is widely used in several public statements and a report by individuals and offices that are part of the United Nations (UN) system. The United Nations uses the term ‘red-tagging’ in statements condemning violence in the Philippines. In fact, the term can be found in published statements and reports, not just by members of “leftists groups,” but also of international and local mechanisms and even legislators. The term red-tagging is often used in place of “red-baiting,” a term more likely used in the West, and not coined by communist rebels in the country, according to a fact check article published by Rappler in January 2021. Galandines echoed the messaging of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). “It is the submission of the government that what it does is truth-tagging and not red-tagging,” she told Supreme Court Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario during Day 6 of the anti-terror law oral arguments. The Duterte government dislikes using the term “red-tagging” to describe its dangerous act of accusing individuals and groups of being communist rebels.Īssistant Solicitor General Marissa dela Cruz-Galandines on Tuesday, May 4, said that the term was “not coined by the government,” and that it was “used by the leftists.”