La Viña to sue Parlade for red-tagging
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 25 August 2026) — Environmental and human rights lawyer Tony La Viña is preparing a P2-million civil suit against retired Army Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for allegedly repeatedly red-tagging him on social media.
La Viña told reporters here that he would file the case as soon as he returns to Manila after the Feast of Saint Augustine in Cagayan de Oro this week.
He said he feared for his safety, particularly because his work as an environmental and human rights defender frequently requires him to go on field.
“I want to go to the field without looking over my shoulder. I want freedom of movement without fear ,” La Viña said.
In a statement, the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) alleged that Parlade continued red-tagging La Viña due to the lawyer’s support and legal defense of former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo, former ACT Teachers party-list representative France Castro, and the rest of the activists known as the “Talaingod 13.”
“This act by Parlade is a dangerous tactic that has now been squarely denounced by the highest court of the land,” the UPLM said.
The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Siegfred D. Deduro vs. Army Major General Eric Vinoya (G.R. No. 254753) that “red-tagging, vilification, labeling, and guilt by association” threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, or security and may justify a writ of amparo, a legal remedy for protection.
La Viña is from Cagayan de Oro and is a professor of law, philosophy, politics, governance in several universities, including in Mindanao. He was formerly Dean of the Ateneo School of Government at the Ateneo de Manila University.
La Viña has been a human rights lawyer for 36 years. He is currently the managing partner of La Viña Zarate and Associates, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and chair of the Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy.
He is founding president of the Movement Against Disinformation and the founding chair of the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility. He also chairs the Pinoy Media Center and the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Samdhana Institute. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
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