In a recent Twitter Spaces discussion that was happening in the wee hours of the morning, I was not able to hold off as a usual and silent listener.
I unsolicitedly participated in the discussion because from my point of view, there were a lot of misconceptions about the issue — that of the so-called RED TAGGING.
There was this audacious but ludicrous assertion that red tagging is a violation of human rights and due process that is being propagated in social media, which legal experts readily dismissed as false and misleading.
Indeed, to say that an assertion and a labeling violates due process presupposes that such an act is a crime clearly defined in our statutes. But red tagging is nowhere to be found in our legal system and, seriously, that assertion is so idiotic and will only be espoused by someone who wants the public to be more confused than be educated.
To reiterate, to identify someone publicly as a communist or a sympathizer or supporter of the local communist movement and its front organizations is not a crime and can never be one if we remain under the rule of law.
And in this argument, the wisdom of the great Juan Ponce Enrile comes into play — why would anyone be afraid or consider it criminal if one branded a communist supporter? Communism in this country is an accepted ideology and one can freely espouse communism. In fact, the communists in our society have taken advantage of our democracy and have even availed themselves of representation and participation in government.
So what is wrong with that?
The thing is, this red tagging issue is a creation of the wily and scheming leaders of the CPP-NPA-NDF as a means to subdue law enforcers and make it more difficult for them to clean up the communism movement of subversives, saboteurs, criminals and terrorists in their ranks.
It is a shield of deception, cleverly designed to make the state and the public be more deliberate in dealing with the menace of our society.
In the public sphere, red tagging is no more different than calling someone an idiot or a troll, and as one legal luminary has put it, falls within the ambit of free speech and freedom of expression.
To red tag someone in public, or on social media and other platforms, is something that one can freely do, but you must really know what you are doing and saying, and you are solely responsible for it, especially since the one you have tagged also has the freedom and the right to respond and debunk your assertion.
And again, if one is red tagged, so what? If you have chosen to promote, to advocate, or pursue communism as an ideology, then you are most free to do it, and you should be more than ready to defend your position.
Unless of course you really have a more sinister agenda.
Mark my word.