Beyond the fake narratives that the posters are peddling, it is clear that the military and the government are behind their creation and posting. This is still classic red-tagging that violates labor and social movement activists’ many human rights. This case gives the lie to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s much-ballyhooed executive order against red-tagging.

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) vehemently condemns the recent case of red-tagging of leaders of the labor and social movements in the Bicol region. We demand that the Marcos Jr government stop and investigate these actions and hold those responsible for this human rights violation accountable.

On February 9, posters were found at Bicol University (BU), Bicol College (BC), Legazpi City National High School (LCNHS), Legazpi Science High School (LSHS) and Daraga North Central School (DNCS) implicating two labor leaders and five mass movement leaders in an encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and rebel group New People’s Army (NPA) on December 23, 2025 in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur that left five people dead.

The posters accused the following of being “traitors” to the revolutionary movement: transport leader Ramon Rescovilla (Condor-Piston), teacher leader Julius Espadero (Alliance of Concerned Teachers or ACT Union), Jen Nagrampa and Dan Balucio (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan), Aubrey Verzosa and Sherra Buen (Tarabang para sa Bicol, Inc. or TABI), and Ranny Morada Ugalde (Tau Gamma Phi and Albay Movement Against Corruption or AMAC).

The posters are red-tagging labor and social movement leaders by linking them to the armed underground movement. At the same time, they are trying to hide their creators, the military and the government, by making it appear that the underground group released the posters. They are setting up the labor and social movement activists for repression, and are preparing to accuse the underground group as culprit. The government and the military may think that this is ingenious, but this has also been an old and familiar tactic.

We call attention to the fact that Rescovilla is already a victim of injustice, having been a political detainee for four years and was released from prison after the courts junked the trumped-up charges against him. Rescovilla was arrested on September 7, 2020 over trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and was released from prison on November 27, 2024 based on a decision of Legazpi City’s 5th Judicial Region, Branch 7. https://ctuhr.org/releases/bicol-transport-leaders-prison-release-overdue/

This case of mass red-tagging belies Marcos Jr’s Executive Order 97, signed on September 19, 2025, which supposedly bans red-tagging of labor movement activists, leaders and organizations. We dare President Marcos Jr himself and his government to set accountability processes in motion, so that red-tagging is stopped and those responsible are held accountable. https://ctuhr.org/releases/marcos-order-on-union-rights-an-advance-but-workers-must-remain-vigilant/

We repeat: Red-tagging violates many human rights: the right to freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly and petition the government for redress of grievances, the right to form and join organizations, the right to freedom from unlawful attacks upon one’s honor and reputation, the right to academic freedom, among others. We reiterate our demand for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which has been responsible for the government’s red-tagging spree and related rights violations.