Various activist groups in Manila condemned the alleged “red-tagging” of a Filipino Benedictine nun who was accused by a government official of supporting a “communist terrorist organization.”
Women’s group Gabriela said the government official’s statement “has no other intent but to set up” Benedictine nun Mary John Mananzan and other women human rights defenders “for the kill.”
Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office has earlier posted on her social media account that the nun “is given a place of honor in a communist terrorist organization.”
Badoy, who is also spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, described Sister Mananzan as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and claimed that the nun is a long-time ally of the rebel National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
“We demand a public apology from Badoy retracting and correcting her condemnable Facebook post,” read a statement from the Movement Against Tyranny.
Badoy’s post was in response to the nun’s own social media post calling out the Manila judge who handed down a guilty verdict against Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa.
On the same day that Badoy made the accusations against Sister Mananzan, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año told participants of an online forum that “it has never been a government position” to red-tag and vilify organizations and individuals.
Human rights group Karapatan described Sister Mananzan as a “consistent, steadfast, and feisty human rights advocate.”
“Those in power who throw shade on her sincerity and long service to the Filipino people ought to reexamine their conscience and themselves. These shameless peddlers of untruths will be made accountable,” read a Karapatan statement.
The Movement Against Tyranny said the government might use Badoy’s allegations against Sister Mananzan to deem her as a “terrorist’ once President Rodrigo Duterte signs the anti-terror bill into law.
Under the new anti-terrorism act the accusation can result in the nun’s designation as a suspected “terrorist” subject to 24-hour surveillance, warrantless arrest and detention without charges of up to 24 days.
With the proposed anti-terror law awaiting the president’s signature, the group said Badoy “is loading up the regime’s guns” for targeting human rights defenders.
Sister Mananzan expressed gratitude to the groups that defended her against the “red-tagging.”
“I know that no venomous lies uttered by anyone can change or make a dent on the real person that I am. Nevertheless I do appreciate your support and genuine friendship,” she said.
