SK councilor, other youth activists red-tagged via posters near Cebu university

CEBU, Philippines – Youth activists, including a Sangguniang Kabataan councilor, were accused of being recruiters for the New People’s Army (NPA) through posters spotted near the University of San Carlos (USC) main campus in Cebu City on Monday, April 8.

Members of the Kabataan Partylist in USC (KPL-USC) condemned the accusations made against Sambag Uno Sangguniang Kabataan Councilor John Kyle Enero, National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) Vice President for Visayas Angel Mendiola, Bayan Muna Regional Chairperson John Ruiz, and Anakbayan Cebu Chairperson Kei Galon.

In a Facebook post, Mendiola challenged the “patriotic movement” to substantiate their accusations with proof and concern themselves with helping the ongoing education crisis and other social issues instead of attacking activists.

“Don’t be shy and show yourselves! Again, I challenge you, indulge us. Otherwise, you are only ghost creations of state forces and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),” Mendiola said.

This is not the first time that Mendiola and her colleagues were red-tagged. It was Mendiola’s third time to be labeled as “communist” on a poster. 

Mendiola told Rappler on Tuesday, April 9 that in previous occasions, the accusations were made through social media posts and shared by different Facebook pages seemingly owned by police stations in Cebu.

Enero, who is also the Cebu chairperson of KPL, was red-tagged via posters spotted near the University of Cebu-Main SHS Campus in Cebu City a few days before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30, 2023.

Mendiola said that they will be looking for closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident and pursue legal action against the perpetrators.

“We call for a thorough investigation into the signatory group ‘Patriotic Students Against Communism Movement’ responsible for spreading such defamatory and dangerous propaganda,” KPL-USC said in their statement on Monday evening, April 8. – Rappler.com