Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Aklan leader Kim Sin Tugna belied the 3rd ID’s accusations that he is a New People’s Army (NPA) fighter in Panay. The accusation stemmed from the alleged confiscation of Tugna’s photos holding a firearm during successive encounters between the NPA and the 12th IB in Tapaz, Capiz in the past week.
The 3rd ID statement claims that Tugna’s July 2008 photo bearing war weapons was recovered from belongings left behind by the people’s army. Tugna responded, “That I am the one in the picture is very impossible.”
Tugna questioned the authenticity of the photo, since he was still studying in high school in Kalibo, Aklan in 2008, the date claimed by the military. He added that he was also working at that time to support himself through high school.
Tugna said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Task Force-Elcac likely schemed confiscating his fabricated photo to arbitrarily link him to the armed movement. Tugna challenged the AFP to file a case in court, which he will face, if it has a valid basis to connect him to the revolutionary movement.
Bayan-Panay expressed support for Tugna against what it called the baseless allegation linking him to the NPA. “The accusations are fabricated and malicious, part of the ongoing campaign of red-tagging and vilification against activists and legal personalities in Panay and across the country,” the group said.
Bayan-Panay stated that this is the same as the military’s harassment and red-tagging against Tugna in 2022. AFP units that time conducted successive interviews and programs branding Tugna and Bayan-Aklan as supporters of the revolutionary movement.
Resisting this Marcos regime’s tactic of repression, Bayan leaders, including Tugna, filed a case against the 3rd Civil-Military Operations Battalion at the Office of the Ombudsman. The complaint detailed the endangerment and violation of activists’ democratic rights whenever they face harassment and red-tagging.
Bayan-Panay urged the Filipino people to expose, resist, and condemn the AFP and NTF-Elcac for their tactics and human rights violations.
