MANILA, Philippines — The controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) welcomed on Sunday the Supreme Court’s landmark decision recognizing red-tagging as a real threat to the lives and civil liberties of Filipinos. In a statement over the weekend, the NTF-Elcac, which has been blamed for the harassment of activists since its creation in 2018, cited a part of the SC ruling that granted a writ of amparo to former Bayan Muna Rep. Siegfred Deduro. Torres, a retired major general who was once at the forefront of the army’s counter-insurgency operations, graduated from the Philippine Military Academy a year ahead of Vinoya, who has not made a statement about the SC decision. Abolition movesTorres made the remarks in an apparent bid to deflect demands that the NTF-Elcac be abolished or defunded because of allegations of repeated violations of democratic freedoms. ADVERTISEMENTIn its decision, however, the SC cautioned judges against making summary judgments without ventilating the concerns of both the petitioner and respondent, as required by judicial rules on the writ of amparo.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 12, 2024 22:24 UTC