MANILA — Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a landmark measure seeking to criminalize red-tagging, a practice long linked to harassment, human rights violations, and killings of activists, journalists, community leaders, and ordinary citizens.

“Red-tagging is not just a label — it is a threat. When someone is publicly named as a communist sympathizer, their life is immediately placed in danger,” Estrada said.

Estrada’s Senate Bill No. 1071, or the proposed “Anti-Red-Tagging Act,” draws legal support from the Supreme Court ruling in Deduro v. Maj. Gen. Vinoya, which recognized that red-tagging, vilification, labeling, and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, and security, and often precede abduction, harassment, or even extrajudicial killings.

The bill seeks to codify red-tagging as an offense under Philippine law to protect citizens from unwarranted harassment, intimidation, or persecution. It defines red-tagging as publicly labeling or accusing individuals or groups as communists, terrorists, or enemies of the State, often without evidence.

SBN 1071 proposes penalties including 10 years’ imprisonment and a lifetime ban from holding public office for those found guilty. Red-tagging may be committed through public statements, social media posts, tarpaulins, placards, declarations, public events, or other platforms used to vilify individuals or groups as enemies of the State.

“Red-tagging has long threatened the lives of human rights defenders and activists, created a chilling effect on legitimate dissenters and community leaders — including journalists — and created a climate of fear in the country. It has no place in a democracy,” Estrada said.

Estrada cited documented cases in recent years showing the deadly consequences of red-tagging, including the killings of Jose Reynaldo Porquia, Zara Alvarez, lawyer Benjamin Ramos, and Councilor Bernardino Patigas, who were publicly branded as communists before being murdered.

“Security forces must protect, not endanger. Advocacy is not a crime. Dissent is not terrorism,” Estrada stressed. “This bill draws a clear line to ensure that no Filipino’s life is put at risk because of reckless and baseless accusations.”