Outgoing Kabataan Partylist (KPL) Rep. Sarah Elago and incoming Rep. Raoul Manuel expressed their strong determination for the campaigns and projects of the newly-proclaimed youth party despite attempts by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), who had been constantly harassing and red-tagging them, to withhold their proclamation and undermine their victory in the recent elections.
Last May 21, NTF-ELCAC red-tagged KPL, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), and Gabriela Party-list based on unfounded and debunked allegations that the three party-lists’ are affiliated with the communist rebel movement. Since 2019, the task force has also petitioned for the cancellation of registration of said partylists and campaigned this week that the three party-lists not be proclaimed in today’s proclamation of party-list winners.
Since its formation in 2018 under Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 70, the NTF-ELCAC has maliciously red-tagged, vilified, and attacked the Makabayan Bloc and other government critics. The task force has groundlessly insinuated false claims of the Makabayan as the CPP-NPA-NDF’s ‘legal fronts’ which have already been continuously debunked by Makabayan.
During the campaign period and on the election day itself, black propaganda and negative campaigning against progressive party-lists have surged, alongside fake news of the opposition’s candidates’ disqualification from the elections. Even state forces and public officials have explicitly campaigned against Makabayan and for the Marcos-Duterte tandem.
For instance, NTF-ELCAC’s spokesperson Lorraine Badoy has consistently peddled repetitive accusations of Makabayan being associated with the CPP-NPA-NDF. Badoy also spread negative campaigning tactics, dubbing Makabayan as “Kamatayan Bloc,” falsely claiming the party-lists’ involvement with the communist movement.
However, despite subsequent attacks by the task force, KPL, alongside Gabriela and ACT Teachers, clinched one seat each in the next Congress. With at least 200,000 votes higher than the last elections, KPL garnered 535,690 votes, ranking 14th among the winning 55 partylists.
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“Is the NTF-ELCAC threatened by the promise of good governance and promotion of human rights and youth’s empowerment?” KPL stated.
Cong. Elago and Manuel reiterated Kabataan’s enduring efforts to champion the youth agenda, inclusive of free tuition and other school fees, as well as free public internet access in state universities across the country. The party also authored the newly-passed SK Compensation and Empowerment Law.
KPL attests that the repetitive baseless attacks of the NTF-ELCAC is “but one of the many ways by which [the task force] has tried to question our integrity.” They asserted their track record in authoring, passing bills, and forwarding the people’s advocacies to “speak for themselves.”
As the Marcos-Duterte tandem clinches the presidential and vice presidential seats, Manuel highlights the youth’s urgent task in defending the rights of the Filipino people and in discrediting any state-sponsored attack to hamper dissent.
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KPL vows to remain steadfast in their work to represent the youth and uphold human rights as the newly-proclaimed Marcos-Duterte administration begins.
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Featured image courtesy of Kabataan Partylist
