ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The party-list group Bayan Muna and other groups under the progressive Makabayan coalition has pointed an accusing finger at the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), accusing it of being behind the “Bayad Muna” tarpaulins as part of a smear campaign in Iloilo City.
The group said tarpaulins designed to discredit it began appearing across the city in February, just as it started its nationwide campaign to win seats in Congress in the May elections.
The posters, styled like Bayan Muna’s campaign materials but replacing “Bayan” (nation) with “Bayad” (payment}, popped up in key areas on February 24: Jaro, La Paz, and Molo plazas, in front of Gaisano Mall in La Paz, along Iznart Street, and in Bankers Village, Jaro.
The message, the group said, was clearly meant to paint Bayan Muna as a compromised, bought, and untrustworthy organization.
Progressive party-list groups under the Makabayan bloc in Panay filed a formal complaint with the Commission on Elections on February 24 over the fraudulent election tarpaulins.
Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women’s Party, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan Party-list lodged the complaint, urging an investigation and the tarpaulins’ immediate removal.
Rappler has sought comment from the regional NTF-ELCAC office, but its officials have yet to respond. This report will be updated if and when they do.
Bayan Muna said the “Bayad Muna” tarps were part of a broader state-sanctioned disinformation and red-tagging campaign to silence progressive voices in the 2025 elections.
“The masterminds behind this cowardly act are none other than those who have long vilified and spread lies about Bayan Muna – chief among them, the NTF-ELCAC,” the group said in a statement.
“Instead of engaging in substantive discourse on pressing national issues, they resort to desperate, cheap tricks that insult the intelligence of the Filipino people,” said Irma Espinas-Espinosa, coordinator of Bayan Muna in Panay and the group’s 7th nominee.
Bayan Muna said the tarpaulins violated Comelec resolutions 11086 and 11116, which set guidelines for fair campaign practices and prevent discrimination during the election.
Comelec Resolution No. 11116, issued on February 19, classifies as election offenses any form of bullying or discrimination against candidates and their supporters.
Lawyer Pinky Jevini Tentativa of the Iloilo City Comelec office said they already removed the deceptive campaign materials against the progressive group in its “Operation Baklas” on February 26.
“We took action on this based on their complaints. This is also a violation of our Comelec resolution. This is illegal and discriminatory,” she said.
Tentative said they have yet to determine who was behind the placement of the tarpaulins, but assured that the confiscated materials would be preserved as evidence for the ongoing investigation. – Rappler.com