Lacson’s “McCarthyist witch-hunt” hit
Manila, Philippines – “Multiple decades have passed but the long-censured McCarthyist thought continues to live on some government officials, particularly to Senator Lacson who has been the sponsor of Senate proceedings on red-tagging,” According to the militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) on Tuesday, lambasting Senate defense committee chair Panfilo “Ping” Lacson for pushing through with Senate probe on the issue of government’s red-tagging.
The fishers’ group was referring to McCarthyism, a “baseless” principle existed in 1940s to 1950s, that served as a political witch-hunt against suspected communist members and sympathizers in the United States.
In a statement, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson Fernando Hicap said that the Senate hearing does not aim to stop the red-tagging and lies being spread by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), but is actually indicting the victims of the red-tagging themselves.
“The government has been presenting unfounded claims from unreliable witnesses linking legal democratic organizations to the rebel movement which makes the latter targets of state-sponsored attacks and abuses. Red-tagging is baseless yet dangerous and deadly, simply put,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson said in a statement.
The fishers’ group also questioned the Senate proceedings, as there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed. Among the many organizations identified as one of the “communist fronts” during today’s Senate hearing, PAMALAKAYA said that the proceedings could be a prelude to terrorist proscription of progressive organizations under the Anti-Terrorism Law.
“Why the Senate proceedings to begin with? Is this a precursor to designation of democratic organizations in the terror list, so we could become the targets of the widely-opposed Anti-Terrorism Law? Senator Lacson should stop this madness,” Hicap, former Anakpawis Party-list solon added.
“Moreover, why is the Senate so fixated on red-tagging, even wasting too much time and public resources when there are many more pressing issues besetting the Filipino people, including the onslaught of pandemic and the successive natural calamities that devastated the archipelago?” ended Hicap. ###
