Reminiscent of McCarthyism

WE have made friends in the military and the police because of the work that we do. The friendships are by-products of periods of interaction required in our respective professions — we are storytellers and they are the sources of the stories that we do, if not the stories themselves. Some have retired while others are still in the service, holding key positions.

We have not always been on the same page. Countless times, we disagreed and maintained exactly opposite positions on certain matters but at the end of the day, we always understood each other’s work and respected that. Yes, we respected each other.

Never did they subject us to red tagging. Not even when Jorge Madlos a.k.a. Ka Oris, the face of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Mindanao, had a daring clandestine press conference near Camp Evangelista years ago!

But what are we to do now, years later, when no less than the Defense secretary of the Duterte administration, Delfin Lorenzana, admitted that the defense establishment is behind the ongoing red taggings? Yes, Lorenzana did.

Asked by a Makabayan bloc congressman to stop the red taggings, Lorenzana snapped: “Condemn the CPP-NPA. Stop these atrocities, condemn ’yung armed struggle na sinasabi ni Joma Sison and we will also stop what we are doing.” Repeat: “… what we are doing.” That declarative sentence leaves no room for another interpretation.

How now can those in the defense establishment who call journalists “friends” condemn the red taggings when their boss says the exact opposite? How can they deny with a straight face that the red taggings are state-sponsored when their boss has already confirmed what they are doing? And how can they pat our shoulders with one hand and then stab us with the other as soon as we turn our backs?

Red tagging is tantamount to indiscriminate firing; it is running amok. It is like setting an entire city on fire when the objective is just to catch some rats.

The red tagging that we are seeing now is reminiscent of McCarthyism. There was this period in the US from the late ’40s to the ’50s when hundreds of Americans were tagged as communists and accused of subversion and treason by those in power without proper regard for evidence. Many suffered as a result.

A senator, Joseph McCarthy, was a prominent figure in that red scare. His “cause” received public support at first but his popularity soon took a nosedive because of the unsubstantiated accusations he hurled at people and his penchant for character assassinations. Too make the long story short, McCarthy ended up being condemned, and censured by the Senate. Ruined, treated with contempt, and virtually alone, he turned to alcohol and died a miserable chronic drinker.

So, again, what are we going to do about this concoction of Philippine-style McCarthyism and the unmistakable 2016 elections-inspired vilification campaign?

The bad news is that there is no indication the red taggings would end until after the 2022 elections. The good news is that no Filipino journalist has ever given up. In fact, they are getting used to the unfriendly environment and are becoming immune just like a virus that adapts and mutates into something much stronger. Life will find a way, and the free press will just have to adapt to this hostile environment until our “friends” realize that McCarthyism is not the way to go, that red tagging is wrong, and until reason and conscience take their natural course.

As for our “friends,” well, those down the line can choose to redeem themselves by defying unlawful orders that hurt reputations and fundamental civil liberties, and unnecessarily endanger lives. They can choose not to burn Filipinos at the stake on mere suspicion that they are witches. Pastilan.