Press Release
March 20, 2023

ICHRP denounces the February 22 malicious red-tagging of Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos City, Negros, by SMNI online hosts Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Badoy, in their program “Laban Kasama ng Bayan”. The two called the bishop’s peace advocacy work and appeal for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) as “diabolical and demonic”. The SMNI hosts went on to make broader attacks against the work of church people including bishops, pastors, dedicated activists and ordinary persons who advocate for peace and justice in the Philippines.

ICHRP is well aware of Lorraine Badoy’s work as a serial red-tagger, earning her the distinction of being on the infamous list of Duterte minions whom ICHRP continues to work to have sanctioned by the international community through Magnitsky laws.

As the former spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the organization coordinating the Philippine’s “Dirty War” on dissent, Badoy already faces legal action for red-tagging Manila judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar. Last October 2022, lawyers led by former Philippine Bar president Rico Domingo filed a petition with the Supreme Court, asking the High Court to hold Badoy in contempt.

Badoy’s actions once again put the spotlight on this illegal practice of red-tagging for which many UN members states criticized the Philippine government during the November 202 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva. It was during that meeting, following criticism from Lichtenstein, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Romania and the USA, that the Philippine representative Jesus Crispin Remulla, Secretary of Justice, claimed “there is no government policy of red-tagging, it is a term invented by the left”. According to ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy, Remulla’s statement highlights the Philippine government’s state of denial to the international community regarding its continuing war on dissent.

“ICHRP expresses its gratitude and unwavering support for Bishop Gerardo Alminaza for his courageous public stands in support of a resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the NDFP.

“ICHRP supports the work of Bishop Alminaza and shares his conviction that pursuing peace should not be one-sided, militarized or highly politicized,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy.

More comment: Peter Murphy, [email protected]; +61 418 312 301