PARTIDO Reporma standard-bearer Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson refuted Monday accusations that he was ‘red-tagging’ supporters of his rival Vice President Leni Robredo who cried foul over his reaction to a news report that they were allegedly paid P500 each to join her recent political rally in Cavite.

“I never red-tagged anybody. I was simply warning those concerned to be wary of a possible coalition government with a movement whose sole objective is to seize power. Insurgency, like corruption, must end if we want peace and prosperity,” Lacson said over his personal Twitter account.

The presidential candidate pushed back against the extreme hate he was getting for merely sharing his thoughts over the reported alliance forged between the Robredo camp and the organizations that are openly espousing communist ideologies.

“This is worrisome. A coalition government with the CPP/NPA/NDF will set back the gains of the government’s efforts to end the country’s decades-old insurgency problem,” Lacson tweeted Sunday attached to an article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the issue.

However, it did not sit well with some netizens supporting the Vice President as they began trolling Lacson to the extent that they themselves deviated from the issue. They branded his comment immediately as ‘red-tagging,’ which Lacson and his allies rejected outright.

In a statement released Monday, the Partido Reporma Cavite chapter clarified Lacson’s remarks both as a party chairman and a native Caviteño, who spent decades of his life and career in public service to defend democracy and look after the welfare of his countrymen.

Partido Reporma explained that Lacson’s remarks came from the perspective of a former intelligence officer with keen awareness of how left-leaning organizations are using the elections as an opportunity to infiltrate various political groups and promote their communist agenda.

The party also mentioned that the veteran lawmaker understands the value of fact-checking and has long been waging a war against fake news throughout his political career, and so he would never say something without verifying it first from other reliable sources.

“Alam niya (Lacson) na lahat ng paratang dapat may basehan. Bihasa siya sa pag-fact check. Dahil din dito, malawak ang intelligence network ni Senador Lacson,” read the statement signed by Atty. Rafael Rodriguez, chairman of Partido Reporma Cavite chapter.

He (Lacson) knows that every assertion made needs a basis. He is adept at fact-checking. Because of this, Senator Lacson built a wide intelligence network.

“Malaya ang mga Kabitenyo na mag-attend ng kahit anong rally na kanilang nais. Parte ito ng demokrasya na kanyang pinangangalagaan at ipinaglalaban. Hindi rin niya sinabi na ang lahat ng nagpunta sa rally ng kahit sino ay may koneksyon sa CPP-NPA-NDF,” Rodriguez added.

The Caviteños are free to attend whatever rally they want to go to. This is part of democracy that he has been protecting and defending. He (Lacson) also did not say that everyone who went to the said rally was connected to the CPP-NPA-NDF.

As a matter of fact, in his own campaign sorties, Lacson himself has been telling his audience and other political leaders to even invite his political rivals, so they could also listen to their proposed policies and compare which ones would work best for them.

The Partido Reporma Cavite chapter underscored that Lacson has no intention to offend anyone by sharing his concerns in public about the possibility of undoing the gains obtained by our law enforcement authorities in their fight against insurgency.

“Nanawagan kami na sana ay itigil na ang mga walang basehang paratang laban kay Senador Lacson dahil lahat naman tayo ay nagkakaisa sa mithiin na magkaroon ng pangmatagalang kapayapaan sa ating bansa. Tulad ng pangako nya sa ating lalawigan, mananatili siyang tapat na Anak ng Kabite,” Rodriguez said.

We appeal to everyone to stop their baseless accusations against Senator Lacson because we are supposed to be united here under one goal to establish long-lasting peace in our country. Like what he promised to our province, he will remain an honest Son of Cavite.

In Philippine jurisprudence, the term ‘red-tagging’ has been defined as “the act of labelling, branding, naming and accusing individuals and/ or organizations of being left-leaning, subversives, communists or terrorists (used as) a strategy…”

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen expressed it in a dissenting opinion on the 2015 court case Zarate vs. Aquino III. It is usually carried out “by State agents, particularly law enforcement agencies and the military, against those perceived to be ‘threats’ or ‘enemies of the State.’”