Probe of DILG memo on ‘infiltration’ sought

By: Nestor Corrales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Mar 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on Sunday denounced a memorandum allegedly from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that directs its regional directors to identify members of two progressive groups who are in the government and “submit their names” to the department.

The DILG, through its spokesperson Jonathan Malaya, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Party list group Bayan Muna, which forms part of the bloc of activist lawmakers, shared a copy of the memorandum dated March 10 and signed by Alexander Macario, the agency’s assistant secretary for public safety and security.

In that document addressed to all DILG regional directors and the regional secretary of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Macario cited an “undisclosed and confidential meeting in which the department participated” and where “part of the discussion was the infiltration” in several government agencies “of known communist terrorist group (CTG) front organization[s] such as [the] Alliance of Concerned Teachers in private and public schools and [in the Department of Education] and the Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) … [in] other government offices.”

“In view thereof, it is advised [that] your office … initiate an investigation [into] the matter and validate employees who are definite members of Courage and, if found to be true and authenticated, please submit their names for the perusal and information of the undersigned,” Macario said in the memorandum.

‘Harassment and intimidation’

He also ordered DILG officials “to fend off and discourage … employees association[s] or organization[s] in your office [from] affiliat[ing] with the CTG.”

The subject of Macario’s memorandum is “Membership of employees of the department in the Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees,” referring to Courage, the network of workers’ unions in the government.

Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, in his statement regarding the memorandum, said: “This is yet another evidence of blatant terrorist-tagging of legitimate people’s organizations, and an unwarranted act of harassment and intimidation.”

“They say there is no Red-tagging? This is clearly Red-tagging,” said the lawmaker, who used to head Courage.

The memorandum “bolsters our suspicion that government forces are in the process of accomplishing a hit list which would be followed by more brazen attacks, by more killings, as we have seen in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) Bloody Sunday,” Gaite said, referring to the joint police-military raids in the Calabarzon region on March 7 that led to the killings of nine activists whom state forces tagged as members of the New People’s Army.

The raids came on the heels of President Duterte’s March 5 “kill” order against communist rebels.

Gaite also dismissed as “damage control” the relief on Saturday of police officials in Calbayog City, Samar, in particular Lt. Fernando Calabria Jr., who allegedly sought from a trial court there the names of lawyers representing communist rebels.

Focus on issues

The lawmaker called for Macario’s relief and “a full investigation” into the memorandum.

In her statement, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro noted that her group is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its unions, with the Civil Service Commission and Department of Labor and Employment.

“We dare the DILG to denounce the memorandum circulating online if it is not an official memorandum from the agency,” she said.

She added that “instead of these dangerous and baseless Red-tagging of progressive organizations of government employees, the Duterte administration should focus on addressing the urgent issues the Filipinos are facing today.”

ACT, in its statement, called for an investigation of the officials behind the memorandum and of those involved in the “undisclosed and confidential meeting.”