Comelec to assist candidate vs. red-tagging

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has assured its willingness to assist a candidate targeted by artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos falsely linking her and her allies to armed communist rebels.

This comes after House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro requested the poll body to take down AI-generated videos circulating on social media that link her to the New People's Army.

Castro cited Comelec Resolution No. 1116, which explicitly prohibits red-tagging as an election offense.

"We are very much willing to assist," Comelec Chairperson George Garcia assured.

Previously, the poll body acknowledged that red-tagging "distorts public perception and creates a climate of fear that suppresses legitimate political discourse."

On 10 March, the National Union of People's Lawyers expressed support for Bayan Muna Party-list's call for an urgent investigation into the red-tagging of progressive candidates.

The party-list group, led by its first nominee Atty. Neri Colmenares, filed a formal complaint before the Comelec, urging the poll body to impose immediate sanctions on those responsible for red-tagging.

Colmenares also called on the Comelec to direct Task Force Baklas to include red-tagging and black propaganda campaign materials in their documentation and to take them down.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ruled that red-tagging is a grave violation of constitutional rights, exposing individuals to harassment, illegal arrests, enforced disappearances, and even extrajudicial killings.