Red-tagging

Red-tagging

By Renato Reyes Jr.

Its immediate goal is to intimidate and silence people. Manahimik ka na lang at baka matulad ka kay so and so.

However, red-tagging can also galvanize people to push back and resist. From an obscure phrase, “Red-tagging” has become a mainstream concept discussed even in showbiz circles. Baligtad ang nangyari.

Ang lumalaban ay dumami.

Not even during the height of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s “Knowing the Enemy” was red-tagging this widely discussed on such broad platforms. Perhaps it’s because not since GMA have we seen red-tagging committed with such impunity and total disregard for human rights.

The failure of red-tagging is its refusal to recognize that resistance is grounded on concrete issues. Walang lumalaban kung walang mga problema ang bansa.

Red-tagging does not solve any problem. It will not make poverty and injustice go away. It won’t make corruption go away. It only tries to negate or delegitimize issues, but the basis for resistance, the concrete issues, still remain. It only attacks advocates and their concerns but offers zero solutions.

The folly of red-tagging is it presumes people are basically stupid and easily manipulated by the Reds. Which is hardly the case.

The more you do red-tagging, the more people will ask about the issues. The more you do red-tagging, the more people will realize how rotten and fascist the regime is. You only end up with more critics than when you started.

And that is why the fascists will ultimately lose.