Panghihimasok ng estado sa BSKE kinondena MGA KANDIDATO KONTRA DEMOLISYON SA TONDO, GINIGIPIT – GABRIELA

BINATIKOS ng grupong Gabriela ang hinihinalang panghihimasok ng puwesa ng estado ng Pilipinas matapos maiulat ang mga nagkalat na red-tagging posters na ang puntirya ay mga progresibong kandidato sa Barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) at isang babaeng community leader sa Tondo, Maynila.

Inilarawan ng grupo na ang black prop operations bilang isang panggigpit sa mga maralitang residente sa Tondo dahil sa kanilang paninindigan laban sa demolisyon at mapangwasak na mga proyektong “kaunlaran.”

“Residents of Tondo are under threat of demolition because of development aggression projects such as Ramon Ang’s Skyway and Reghis Romero’s ‘Tondominium’. In response, Tondo residents organized, seeking to prevent their families’ displacement. Now, when they decided to enter local elections to highlight issues related to housing, poverty, inflation, and low wages, they are suddenly branded armed rebels. This absurdity places them in harm—a heartless continuation of the harassment Tondo residents have long faced for resisting development aggression,” saad ni Clarice Palce, GABRIELA’s Secretary-General.

Nakasaad sa nasabing mga posters na nagkalat sa Tondo na: ‘Fe Cristostomo, Phil Tiozon, Isko Manaog, Rey Dimaano, recruiter ng CPP-NPA-NDF!”

“While the red-tagging posters have no identifiable signatories, only a fool would fail to piece together who has the means and the motive to vilify progressive candidates advocating for Tondo residents’ rights to housing. Let us not forget that only this March, the 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army were deployed to relentlessly profile, stalk, and harass community leaders outspoken about preventing demolitions in Tondo, forcing them to seek help from the Commission on Human Rights,” isinalaysay ni Palce.

“Before that, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was responsible for falsely and baselessly labeling people’s organizations as ‘NPA rebel surrenderees’,” continued the woman leader. “Nanay Fe, Phil, Isko, and Rey are not armed rebels; they are civilian community organizers and advocates for people’s welfare in Tondo. Kagawad Phil and Rey in particular are incumbent barangay officials and long-standing leaders of their barangay’s Housing and Labor Committees,” paalala niya.

“We are calling for an immediate end to the crooked obstruction to clean and fair elections in Tondo. Such acts, which most certainly involve the use of public funds to besmirch and endanger the lives of Filipinos exercising their civil liberties, are not only cruel, but illegal. Democracy must run free in our elections, without any of these underhanded tactics by the NTF-ELCAC and the armed forces,” pagtatapos ni Palce.