Red-tagging victims from various parts of Mindanao participated in a Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-led investigation on November 11-12. The investigation is part of a series of investigations conducted by the agency following a Supreme Court decision in July that declared Red-tagging a “threat to human life, liberty, and security.” Many of the participants submitted their testimonies online.

Karapatan reported that 10 individuals from the South Mindanao Region submitted documents to report their experiences of Red-tagging. Among them were human rights defender Jay Apiag, and Rosiele Lariosa, wife of missing labor organizer William Lariosa.

In Apiag’s testimony, he stated that he was Red-tagged four times between 2020 and 2021 through posters posted in various parts of Davao City. He had twice sought an investigation from the CHR in the past. In August, he was arrested in Digos City and charged with six fabricated cases of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms.

Lariosa also submitted a report regarding her family’s experienced in 2022 and 2023 of Red-tagging and threats to force her husband William to “surrender.”

According to Karapatan, the two cases show how Red-tagging can lead to the filing of fabricated charges and detention, as well as enforced disappearance.

Also testifying were lawyer Atty. Beverly Musni of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, who is also a victim of Red-tagging, as well as journalists Cong Corrales, editor-in-chief of Mindanao Gold Star Daily, and Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews.

Apart from them, an LGBT activist from Zamboanga and farmers defending their lands against a palm oil plantation in Agusan del Sur also gave their testimonies.