CCNCI CONDEMNS THE RED-TAGGING OF TABI!
- Guest
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Climate Change Network for Community-based Initiatives (CCNCI) vehemently condemns the red-tagging and terror-tagging of Tarabang Para sa Bicol (TABI) staff and consultants as well as the other leaders of the sectoral mass organizations across the Bicol Region.
Posters deliberately red-tagging and terror-tagging multiple leaders of mass-organizations were sighted across Legazpi City, Sto. Domingo, (Albay), Castilla (Sorsogon), and Naga City. Among those who were tagged by the malevolent content is Tarabang Para sa Bicol (TABI) Executive Director Aubrey Versoza; Bicol Farmers School Training Coordinator and Consultant Dr. Rose Sambo; and TABI staff member Sherra Buen who was also subjected to state surveillance, suspicious visits, and intimidation within the vicinity of her home and community.
Tabi - Bicol Farmers School is a partner organization of CCNCI since 2022 and has been a long standing ally in our fight against the worsening climate crisis through the advancement of agroecology as a means to achieve climate adaptation.
Their efforts in establishing a school that capacitates both young and old farmers across the Bicol region has earned them over 80 trained individuals who have managed to give back to their own communities and fellow farmers. By giving back the knowledge that Tabi - BFS has provided to farmers, a lot of the communities across the Bicol Region have been made aware of agroecology as a self-sustaining practice and as a means to mitigate climate change induced disasters.
These are disasters that worsen every year whose sordid effects are only amplified by the seemingly perpetual cycle of corruption within our government institutions. Tabi-BFS is at the frontlines in enacting genuine climate-mitigation efforts whose capacity-building initiatives have been able to mobilize over 50 members of the academe to lend their expertise and technical knowledge in climate resiliency efforts through agroecology food systems.
The vilified individuals are agroecology and climate advocates who have shared their technical expertise in the aforementioned field. Doc. Sambo is a faculty member of Sorsogon State University - Castilla Campus (SorSU - CC) who is a scientist and consultant that utilized her expertise in community engagement with farmers and the empowerment of their livelihoods.
Executive Director Versoza has a long record in engaging with community development efforts in service of the marginalized, spearheading efforts in capacitating farmers to be self-reliant and sufficient. Sherra Buen is a local staff of the CCNCI Solidagro project who has aided Tabi in their numerous initiatives most recently in responding to the aftermath of the climate-induced disasters that are faced by their community.
Given their track record in service of their marginalized communities, why are they subject to red-tagging? The organization that has concretized genuine solutions in achieving climate resiliency is facing unjust harassment. It is a disservice to their cause and the communities they have aided that that they are possible vilified instead of supported by a government that has weaponized the volatile narrative of their armed institutions in order to silence and paralyze organizations that have a much longer track record of service to the public than those who claim to prioritize national security.
CCNCI vehemently condemns the attacks levied against our partner organization. In line with our mantra to address the impacts of climate change, we implore our communities to assimilate the methods and principles embodied by Tabi-BFS. In the struggle for climate justice, many more must follow their footsteps.
Persistent harassment and red-tagging only absolves the people's chances to recover amidst the aftermath of consecutive typhoons. The government must address the grievances of its people. Many are toiling over land that has been siphoned off its natural nutrients due to consequential agricultural policies that are for-profit rather than self-sufficiency.
The hope of our communities is rooted on the land that they harvest their future from. Vilifying the people that aid its people in achieving self-reliance only serves to absolve them of their hopes. CCNCI also condemns the red-tagging and terror-tagging faced by other leaders from other mass-organizations in Bicol whose role and sectoral purpose also plays a key role in the achievement of genuine solutions to our climate crisis.
It is evident that the priorities of our government remain misaligned. The abundance of NGOs who have faced the same challenges and threats to their operations is a telling sign that our government remains committed to muzzling those that account for the gaps in their leadership.
A culture of violence remains deeply seated in our bureaucracy and in the pursuit of climate justice, in alignment with our embodied values, a dismantling of institutions of oppression and systemic frameworks are urgently needed.
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