MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has declared that red-tagging and guilt by association threatens a person’s constitutional righ t to life, liberty and security.
In a 39-page decision, the SC noted that red-tagging has been acknowledged by international organizations as a form of harassment a nd intimidation.
Being l abeled as “red” often comes with frequent surveillance, direct harassment and, in some instances, eventual death, according to the SC.
The high tribunal noted that being associated with commu nists or terrorists makes the red-tagged person “a target of vigilantes, paramilitary groups or even state agents.”
“Thus, it is easy to comprehend how a person may, in certain circumstances, develop or harbor fear that being red-tagged places his or her life or se curity in peril,” the ruling, penned by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, stated.
The SC further noted that red-tagging is the use of threats and intimidation to discourage “subversive activities.”
The ruling stemmed from a petition filed by Siegfred Deduro, an activist and former representative of party-list Bayan Muna and a founding member and vice president for the Visayas of Bayan Muna and the Makabayan coalition.
In his petition, Deduro sought the issuance of a writ of amparo, a remedy for those whose right to life, liberty or security has been violated or threatened.
He said military officers under the command of Maj. Gen. Eric Vinoya, the commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, red-tagged and accused him of being a ranking member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
Deduro added that he saw posters with his image alongside other activists where they were labeled as criminals, terrorists and members of the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (NDF).
He claimed that there was also an instance when he was followed by unidentified men.
The SC reversed and set aside the ruling of the Iloilo Regional Trial Court (RTC) that dismissed Deduro’s petition, saying that it found prima facie evidence that warranted the issuance of a writ of amparo in his case.
“Petitioner should not be expected to await his own abduction or worse, death, or even that the supposed responsible persons directly admit their role in the threats or violations to his constitutional rights, before the courts can give due course to his petition. It is at this phase where the petitioner is at risk of enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing when the writ of amparo becomes necessary,” the high tribunal said.
“Quite like the development of the Rule on Amparo, the damages inflicted by red-baiting evolve, too: they start from the psychological before they turn physical. Amid a history of shifting social and political ties, we affirm the judiciary’s sworn duty to see to it that the protection of every right guaranteed in the Constitution remains constant for all,” it added.
The SC only granted the petition, and not yet the privilege of the writ of amparo.
The RTC will set a hearing that will determine if the privilege of the writ will be granted.
In his concurring opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said that the issuance of a writ of amparo is justified when there is red-tagging, “vilification, labeling and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty or security.”
Leonen mentioned his 2015 dissenting opinion, where he outlined the dangers inherent to red-tagging.
“As astutely stated in the ponencia, a person seeking the protective ambit of a writ of amparo need not await the inimical outcomes of being red-tagged to come to pass to be entitled to the writ,” he said.
“The heightened risk of danger or death brought about by being labeled as a communist, a communist sympathizer or even merely being adjacent to a communist cause should be seriously considered by judges in amparo proceedings,” he added.
The SC’s decision was promulgated in July last year but was only publicized yesterday.
Bayan lauds SC
Following the development, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) yesterday lauded the SC for granting a writ of amparo in favor of Deduro.
Bayan chairperson emeritus Carol Araullo said they welcomed the high tribunal’s unequivocal, legally and morally binding ruling on red-tagging.
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) will cut the prescribed minimum of 180 school days for the coming school year 2024-2025 by 15 days to ensure that students and teachers are not in classrooms during extreme summer heat by April and May 2025.
DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said the agency plans to start SY 2024-2025 on July 29 and end it on March 31, 2025, with 165 school days or 15 days short of the 180 to 220 days prescribed by the law.
“The immediate effect of the transition is if we’re going to end in March 2025, the number of school days will be reduced to 165. Historically, the minimum has been 180 school days, and because we will shorten the SY, we will have to cope with the possible non-covering of some competencies,” Bringas explained in an interview on PTV.
To prevent schools from being unable to cover all required competencies for the next SY, the DepEd will employ drastic measures to ensure all competencies are covered in a shorter period of time, according to the education official.
“So that’s what the curriculum and teaching strands are preparing to make sure that there will not be an increase or additional learning loss,” he said.
President Marcos earlier directed the DepEd to immediately revert to the June-to-March academic calendar, prompting the agency to abandon its phased transition protocol that would have taken full hold three SYs from now.
While various groups and education stakeholders welcomed the move, some lawmakers and experts are wary about the consequences of shortening the period of schooling, considering how Filipino students are currently five to six years behind in learning competencies, based on international assessments.
Acknowledging these apprehensions, Bringas noted that the DepEd’s Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD) is currently crafting a “concrete plan” to ensure that students would not continue lagging in their competencies with the shortened SY.
“Experts’ opinions are important – in that, if we shorten the school days, it has to be covered and aided by innovative and useful approaches so that the coverage of competencies would still have quality despite the reduced number of school days,” he said.
“This is exactly the same reason why the (BLD) is crafting a concrete plan on the implementation of the curriculum for a shortened number of school days… We will be employing several interventions strengthening and enhancing our current approaches to ensure that the mastery of the competencies is ensured,” he added.
The DepEd earlier said that among the measures being considered is holding online classes on weekends.
Due to the lockdown and remote learning mode in schools caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, public schools opened their school year in October that year.
The academic calendar opened in August when full onsite classes resumed last year.
Various groups have been calling for the immediate return to the old school calendar, citing the extreme heat experienced by students in March and April.
Even lawmakers have sought to intervene by filing proposals to shift to the old calendar, stressing that the current school calendar running from August to June is inappropriate in the country.
Because of the current calendar, which holds classroom learning during April and May, thousands of schools have suspended onsite classes this month and throughout last month due to the extreme heat.
While encouraging the public to protect their well-being amid existing and emerging health risks brought about by the hot weather, Sen. Bong Go expressed support for the DepEd’s intent to revert to the previous school calendar where breaks are held during the dry season.
The DepEd on Tuesday formally announced through Department Order No. 003, Series of 2024, that starting next school year, the academic calendar will shift back to its old schedule.
“The weather is really hot these days. It is a big pain for teachers and students, and it delays their studies. We must prioritize the health of the youth in such a way that education is not sacrificed,” Go said.
News articles referencing information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration have highlighted that temperatures in certain regions have hit “danger levels.”
Recently, Metro Manila experienced its highest recorded temperature of 38.8 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous record of 38.6 degrees Celsius set in 1915.
The adjustment comes in response to the rising heat index, which has prompted calls for a scheduling overhaul to ensure the safety and comfort of students.
Go’s endorsement of this shift underscored the importance of balancing the health and well-being of students with the need to ensure quality education.
“As the chairperson of the (Senate) committee on health, my first priority is the safety, health and welfare of the students. And I am glad, as reported, that President Bongbong Marcos is open to the idea of immediately returning our school to the old school calendar because of the intense heat every summer,” he said.
Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives is proposing that teachers be granted additional service leave credits should the old school calendar be restored.
Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, who chairs the House committee on basic education and culture, said this should compensate the teachers for their summer vacation that would be shortened when the plan to revert to the old school calendar pushes through.
“We will still have a summer vacation, but it will be shortened… We all know the nature of the work of our teachers,” Romulo said in an interview over ANC.
Under the law, teachers are allowed 60 to 70 days of summer break and 14 days of Christmas vacation.
Romulo’s committee convened last Monday to start evaluating the phased implementation of the DepEd’s new MATATAG curriculum.
The lawmaker has expressed concerns on the impact that the new curriculum would have on “learning continuity,” particularly on Grades 1 to 3 students, if the old school calendar is restored in June.
Romulo underscored the need to develop the reading comprehension of Filipino elementary students. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sheila Crisostomo
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos highlighted the distribution of the bulk of the pandemic emergency allowance to frontliners in his message for Health Workers’ Day, assuring members of the sector that the government values their service to the nation.?
“Consistent with our promise, the administration has distributed P59.8 billion or 78.92 percent of the COVID health emergency allowance for our hero frontliners,” Marcos said in a Facebook post Tuesday night.?
“This Health Workers’ Day, we value the sacrifices of our frontliners who serve wholeheartedly and who have shown the world the skill and concern of Filipinos,” he added.?
Under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, health workers who directly catered to or were in contact with COVID-19 patients are entitled to a special risk allowance for every month that they served during the state of national emergency.
In a recent statement, the budget department said it has released P91.283 billion for public health emergency benefits and allowances from 2021 to 2023.
The item covers benefits like health emergency allowances, special risk allowances, compensation for COVID-19 sickness and death, meals, accommodation and transportation allowances.
In March, the Department of Health reported that P76.1 billion worth of health emergency allowance covering more than 8.5 million claims from July 2021 to July 2023 had been released.
According to the agency, the General Appropriations Act gave only P19.9 billion for health emergency allowance under programmed appropriations for fiscal year 2024.
DOH said it has released P19.7 billion or 99 percent of the amount to all eligible health facilities.
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) slashed its palay production target for the year to 20.4 million metric tons (MT) after taking into consideration the impact of El Niño on domestic farms.
The new palay production target is about two percent lower than DA’s earlier target, which was 20.8 million MT, according to Agriculture spokesman Arnel de Mesa.
De Mesa said the new palay production target is “more realistic,” considering the possible losses that rice farms may incur this year due to El Niño.
Nonetheless, De Mesa noted that it is still above the 20.06 million MT record palay harvest last year.
He said the country would have sufficient rice supply despite the reduction in output, thanks to imports that have already exceeded 1.5 million MT at the end of April.
The drivers for the higher palay output this year would be the anticipated expansion in area harvested as more farms are planted with hybrid and inbred seeds and higher mechanization level, De Mesa said.
He added that the actual impact of El Niño on rice production has been lower than what the DA initially expected.
Local palay output from January to March declined by two percent to 4.68 million MT from the 4.78 million MT recorded volume in the same period last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
El Niño has affected some 34,264 hectares of rice farms in the first quarter, resulting in production loss amounting to about 72,733 MT.
Meanwhile, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) administrator Eduardo Guillen on Wednesday said the government targets to sell a total of 100 million kilos of rice in Kadiwa centers at P29 per kilo in August as the retail price of the staple in the markets remains high.
In a radio interview, Guillen said the program is part of the contract farming entered into by NIA with farmers’ associations covering 40,000 hectares of palay plantations.
Guillen added that the selling of affordable rice is part of the government’s intervention amid the upward trend in the retail prices of the grains.
“Under the memorandum of agreement, they (farmers) will return to us at least five tons (of palay). Once they give the five tons, we will give them another P50,000 inputs and cash, or a total of P100,00,” Guillen said.
According to Guillen, NIA encourages farmers to form associations to enjoy the benefits of the program.
Watchdog group Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said the flooding of imported rice will continue with the amendments of the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203.
In an interview with The STAR, Estavillo said that while Bantay Bigas supports the return of the power of the NFA, the proponents pushing for the amendments of the RTL failed to mention the sources of funding for the NFA subsidized rice.
Estavillo said the budget of the NFA will come from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. – Bella Cariaso