MANILA - Research group IBON Foundation filed an administrative complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against 3 government officials for their supposed baseless red-tagging of activist groups.

The complaint wants Armed Force of the Philippines Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon held accountable for their supposed bad behavior. It was filed by IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa and Board of Trustees Chairperson Bishop Solito Toquero.

"Bad behavior should be punished, and Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., Presidential Communications and Operations Office Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon have been behaving badly," the complainants said in a statement.

The complaint enumerates allegedly slanderous statements, interviews, articles, and speeches in 2019 and 2020 made by Badoy, Parlade, and Esperon, which red-tagged IBON and other groups.

IBON claimed that the red-tagging efforts of administration officials became more pronounced after the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communism and Armed Conflict.

The most recent among the interviews according to the group was that of Usec. Badoy who called IBON a communist front on the One News program "The Chiefs" last month.

Ibon added that Gen. Parlade spent the first week of February in Australia calling out IBON for supposed terrorist financing while Esperon said in March that IBON is one of the non-government organizations supported by the Belgian government that “act as legal fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army."

“Gusto sana namin umabot sa suspension, dismissal, pagtanggal ng benefits nila. Tingin namin deserving ng mabigat na parusa na naaayon sa batas,” Africa said.