Expectedly, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) tagged the effort of a local publishing house to make information on martial law more accessible to children as a communist plot.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Nica Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo Red-tagged Adarna House, saying its attempt to sell book bundles about Ferdinand Marcos鈥� dictatorship was part of its plan to 鈥渟ubtly radicalize鈥� Filipino children against the government.
Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy, spokesperson for the relentless Red-tagger National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), also said Adarna House was infiltrated by communists, and that the books were 鈥減lanting hate and lies in the tender hearts of our children.鈥�
Adarna House is an established family-run publishing house founded by National Artist Virgilio Almario in 1980.
鈥淲hat is dangerous here is you鈥檙e presenting an issue of martial law in children鈥檚 books. When you teach that to kids, you are planting seeds of hatred and dissent in the minds of these children,鈥� Monteagudo said in an NTF-Elcac presser on Friday.
For the Filipino child
Instead of telling their children what happened during the martial law years, he said, parents should first teach their children to recite the alphabet and pray to God.
Monteagudo said his post was a warning: 鈥淚t is to warn our people to protect our children. Our children are worth fighting for, unless you do not agree with me.鈥�
On Monteagudo鈥檚 Facebook post, some commenters suggested closing down the publishing house that aims to mold 鈥渢he Filipino child who loves and values his history, culture and country.鈥�
On Wednesday, with the dictator鈥檚 son and namesake Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recording a huge lead in the partial unofficial vote count of the Commission on Elections, Adarna House offered the #NeverAgain book bundle at a discounted price.
The titles in the bundle are 鈥淚to ang Diktadura鈥� (2017) by Equipo Plantel; 鈥淓dsa鈥� (2013) by Russell Molina; 鈥淚sang Harding Papel鈥� (2014) and 鈥淪i Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar鈥� (2001) by Augie Rivera; and 鈥淭he Magic Arrow鈥� (2021) by Bolet Banal.
Rivera, who wrote two of the featured children鈥檚 illustrated books, condemned Monteagudo and Badoy鈥檚 Red-tagging.
He denied any connection with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or its armed and political wings, the New People鈥檚 Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, respectively.
According to Rivera, he wrote 鈥淪i Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar鈥� back in 2001 as part of a five-book series published by Unicef (or the United Nations Children鈥檚 Fund) Philippines and Adarna House.
鈥淚t is a work of historical fiction that depicts important lessons and events from our history,鈥� he said.
Gaiman鈥檚 tweet
On Twitter, acclaimed English fantasy writer Neil Gaiman said the Red-tagging of Adarna House was 鈥渘ot good.鈥�
A couple of Gaiman鈥檚 works, including the graphic novel 鈥淪andman,鈥� were banned in different countries for themes supposedly unsuitable for the intended age reading group.
This is not the first time that a Filipino bookseller has been Red-tagged. In March, Popular Bookstore and Solidaridad Book Shop were defaced with anticommunist graffiti.
Progressive faculty and academic staff at the University of the Philippines claimed it was the handiwork of the NTF-Elcac, which also instigated the pullout of progressive books from the libraries of some state colleges last year.
In April 2021, Monteagudo was criticized by a number of senators for linking a Senate workers鈥� union to the CPP.
READ: NICA chief echoes Duterte, says Reds make billions
On his Facebook post, Monteagudo claimed that the Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon 鈥渟erves as the eyes and ears鈥� of the communists 鈥渢o hijack government plans and programs.鈥�
He did not substantiate his claims and did not provide proof.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III defended the chamber鈥檚 employees and dared the Nica chief to name the union members allegedly supporting the communist movement.
READ: Sotto says NICA chief may be 鈥榤isinformed鈥� on claims CPP-NPA has spies at Senate