The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) has formally appealed to the Supreme Court over red-tagging incidents occurring within court proceedings.

The appeal comes after the NUPL’s name was included in a document from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), labeling the organization as part of “underground mass organizations” associated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in a case pending before a Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila.

NUPL Secretary General Atty. Josalee Deinla said that the use of such documents as evidence puts lawyers at risk and undermines the integrity of the judicial process.

“Pinapagbigay alam natin sa opisina ng Chief Justice yung latest incident of red tagging na nangyari sa isang ongoing case pending before a regional trial court in Metro Manila. Dito ang nangyari may isang testigo para sa isa sa mga defendants na nagsumite na isang opisyal na dokumento mula sa National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict o NTF-ELCAC kung saan nire-tag ang NUTL kasama ng iba pang mga organisasyon,” Deinla said.

“At ito ay mariin natin kinukondena sapagkat ang practice ng red tagging alam natin ito ay kinilala sa jurisprudence bilang isang mapanganib na gawain. Nagdudulot ito ng panganib sa kung sino man yung binabansagang communist terrorists o kaya front organizations ng CTP-NPA-NPA,” she furthered.

Deinla also urged the Supreme Court to implement protection measures for human rights lawyers, noting that the practice of red-tagging is very dangerous for lawyers who are simply doing their work.

She also emphasized the need to discuss ways to address attacks against legal practitioners in accordance with international human rights standards.