Ex-Anakbayan leader and former NPA rebel slams Anakbayan amid row on media outfit’s alleged ‘red-tagging’

MANILA — A fresh controversy has erupted online after Anakbayan–Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) denounced a news article by SunStar Davao that linked the group to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But the criticism drew a swift and pointed response from a former Anakbayan leader, and former CPP and New People’s Army rebel, who said that the group was still pretending not to be aligned with the CPP.

The June 14 SunStar article, titled “CPP, Anakbayan: Pulong’s Statement Diversionary Tactic”, reported that both the CPP and Anakbayan-SMR had condemned Davao City First District Representative Paolo Duterte’s criticisms of the New People’s Army (NPA). The article referred to Anakbayan-SMR as an allied group of the CPP and cited CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena, who called Duterte’s remarks a diversion from human rights allegations against his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Anakbayan-SMR pushed back on June 15 through an open letter, calling the article “dangerous” and “misleading.” They accused SunStar of red-tagging by labeling the group as a CPP ally and claimed the news outlet violated journalistic ethics.

“Anakbayan Southern Mindanao is a legal, national-democratic youth organization,” the group wrote. “We have been in existence for 26 years, advancing the interests of freedom-loving Filipino youth against exploitation and oppression under a semi-feudal and semi-colonial system.”

They also cited the Supreme Court’s Deduro v. Vinoya ruling, which warned against red-tagging, vilification, and guilt by association, stating such acts violate constitutional rights.

You’re not being persecuted, you are being exposed

But shortly after Anakbayan’s statement circulated, Joy James Saguino, who also goes by Jam Saguino on Facebook, former Anakbayan National Vice-Chairperson for Mindanao and a former CPP-NPA rebel, posted a scathing open letter on Facebook titled “To Anakbayan-SMR: You Know Exactly What You Are.”

Saguino, once the deputy secretary of the CPP-SMR’s Subregional 1 Committee, didn’t mince words: “You use the same talking points the CPP has used for decades—‘semi-feudal,’ ‘imperialist,’ and ‘national-democratic struggle,’” she wrote. “That’s not accidental. That’s the framework you push in every forum, every ED, every rally.”

In her post, Saguino accused Anakbayan of serving as a legal front for the underground armed struggle, shielding the CPP’s recruitment and propaganda work.

“You plant the line, then act shocked when people connect the dots? LOL (Laugh out loud),” she said.

Saguino also highlighted the cases of young activists who were radicalized, disappeared from their schools, and later showed up in military reports as NPA casualties. She questioned Anakbayan’s silence on NPA attacks against farmers, civilians, and state forces.

“Let’s be real: you’re not being persecuted. You are being exposed,” she wrote.

In a follow-up post, Saguino shared a more personal account of her early years in the national-democratic movement. She recounted her first encounter with Charisse Bernadine “Chaba” Bañez, then a fellow youth activist and later the CPP’s Regional Party Secretary for the Southern Mindanao Region. Bañez, who was arrested on June 13 in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, was once UP Student Regent and Anakbayan Secretary General.

“By 2009, we were both already CPP members. She was the rising star. I went underground in 2011,” Saguino wrote. “Don’t let another life be lost to the lies of an armed revolution.”

Saguino ended her post with a direct warning to the public about Anakbayan and similar national-democratic organizations: “These groups are not victims. They are political shields. They are recruiters. They know exactly what they’re doing.”

As of this writing, Anakbayan-SMR has not issued a response to Saguino’s statement.