Makabayan bloc solons dare Duterte to sue them amid red-tagging

The Makabayan bloc House representatives dared Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials to sue them if they have enough proof that they are connected with communist rebels.

The solons made the statement after Duterte “red-tagged” Makabayan bloc anew during his televised public address last night, specifically Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate.

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Duterte said, “the act of one is the act of all…the act of a soldier NPA (New People’s Army) is the act of Zarate, the congressman.”

The President added that he would reveal the names of those involved with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) before his term ends. NDFP is the negotiating arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Makabayan Bloc lambasted Duterte’s statements as “flawed” and “dangerous” and only meant to justify the intensified attacks against those who opposed his administration.

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“President Duterte and his ilk do not have any credible evidence against us, because if so they would have gone to court a long time ago,” they said.

Makabayan bloc solons dare Duterte to sue them amid red-tagging

“They have been saying for the longest time that they have tons of evidence. Then present it in court now, not just rant about it. Or is it because you do not have evidence and state forces are still manufacturing it?” they added.

The Makabayan solons insisted that the intensified attacks against them and Zarate, in particular, only show the President’s intention to eliminate them.

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“They know that Rep. Zarate and the Makabayan bloc’s sterling record in and outside Congress is a stark contrast to the criminally negligent and incompetent handling of the Duterte administration of the different problems of the country from the COVID-19 pandemic, to typhoons, unemployment, landlessness, and others,” they said.

“They know that the Makabayan Bloc’s whole machinery would be mobilized to expose the corruption issues and other anomalies of the Duterte administration from the generals’ pork, to subservience to China, to illegal POGOs, high electricity and water rates among others,” they added.

“Duterte and his ilk are continuously seeking to impose on us their extremist, militaristic views. For them, to think otherwise is to be red or an enemy of the state. We will not let this pass,” they said.