De Lima cries foul over red-tagging of Robredo supporters

Re-electionist Senator Leila M. de Lima bewailed the recent red-tagging rampage against the supporters of presidential aspirant and Vice President Leni Robredo following the huge turnout of crowds in the latter's election rallies.

De Lima, who is seeking reelection under the Robredo-Pangilinan ticket, said elections "are dirty enough for candidates to still venture out into endangering the lives of their rival candidates through irresponsible red-tagging."

"VP Leni's candidacy is being carried out on the shoulder of a mass movement borne out of an electoral struggle. This early, she can already be considered as a people's candidate, because no less than ordinary folks and the common people are financing her run and that of her senatorial candidates," she said. "To therefore red-tag those comprising this mass movement of VP Leni supporters is a great disservice to elections as an expression of our democratic way of life.

"It is no different from running out of ideas and resorting to name-calling, instead of appealing to the minds of the voters. It is a sign of a campaign losing steam even before it has gathered enough heat," she added.

Cavite 7th District Representative Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla reportedly alleged some attendees of a massive campaign rally of Robredo in Cavite last March 4 were paid, and even claimed that they were members of communist groups.

Sharing his thoughts while retweeting a news article on Remulla's allegations, presidentiable Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson - who hails from Cavite - argued that a government forming a coalition with communist groups would be "worrisome."

The Robredo People's Council-Cavite, which helped organize the rally in General Trias, Cavite condemned Remulla and Lacson, saying that accusations against volunteers are malicious, damaging to their reputation, irresponsible, and baseless.

Some of the organizers and volunteers also pushed back on their own social media accounts.

De Lima said that no one can deny the fact that Robredo clearly has the lead when it comes to the passion and spirit of volunteerism of her supporters.

"Throughout the country, they are spending their own hard-earned money to produce her campaign materials, organize house-to-house campaigns, and recruit other individuals to their cause. This is something that has not been seen in a long time," she said.

"This is what all our elections should be, a democratic exercise where candidacies are powered by the support of a broad sector of the population coming from the middle and working classes of society, instead of being bankrolled by the elite or paid for with ill-gotten wealth," she added.