leaders and support group leaders complained93 that Lumad, including some of those in Haran, were frequently suspected of being members of the NPA by the military. For instance, a Datu testified about having been intimidated, interrogated, and harassed into admitting NPA membership. To dispel suspicions, he was forced to join the Alamara. Denying ties with the NPA, he complained that he was forced to leave his home in April 2015 because of the military’s relentless investigation of him.94 89. The Commission believes that red-tagging, rather than promoting democracy, erodes it. A healthy democracy allows anti-government views to surface in the marketplace of ideas and public discourse. If a democratic government is one which is of the people, then they should be free and unrestrained in expressing their discontent. Red-baiting subdues the articulation of issues, and strikes at the heart of democracy. 90. At the most extreme, red-tagging detracts from people’s right to full protection under the law, as it renders them unfair targets of violence, arrest, disappearance, and even liquidation. This is not unknown in the Philippines. Professor Philip Alston, as UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, found in 2007 that the killings and enforced disappearances during the Arroyo regime of hundreds of activists affiliated with organizations identified by the AFP as part of the CPP/NPA/NDF were preceded by red-tagging.95 91. Red tagging of Lumad leaders by other Lumad also waters down and disrupts the indigenous unity necessary for their continued existence as a collective. This has a deleterious effect on their ability to exercise their culture in community with others, guaranteed under Art. 27 of the ICCPR. The situation of Lumad telling on other Lumad, if unabated or further exacerbated, may lead to the erosion of their culture and the eventual dissolution of the community. 92. The Commission is compelled to remind all sectors to regard red-tagging seriously and to realize its potentially grievous impact on Lumad existence. 93. The AFP must refrain from red-tagging. If the AFP has evidence to prove that certain persons are members of the NPA or support NPA activities, the proper action is to take the lead in the prosecution of the latter, not political vilification or red-baiting which puts to peril people’s freedoms, security, and lives. Internal Displacement 94. Claims of massive exodus by the Lumad from their ancestral domains were disputed by fellow Lumad, who stated that the evacuations were relatively 93 See paras. 23, 27, 47, 68 and 75. 94 TSN dated 24 September 2015 – A.M. Session, p. 35-43. 95 Philip Alston, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Mission to Philippines A/ HRC/8/3/Add.2 16, April 2008. 22