Youth rep: With rampant red-tagging, Jose Rizal would have been enemy of state today

MANILA, Philippines — Author and Filipino hero Jose Rizal would have been called an enemy of the state if he were alive today due to his books, a youth party-list representative said of the rampant red-tagging local authors face now.

On Monday’s House session, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel cited a phrase from Rizal — writings which he said would be banned just as officials of the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) demand the banning of particular literature as subversive.

“Let me begin by saying, ‘the idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards, and liberty will shine out like the first dawn.’ These phrases are not mine, nor are they from a guidebook for…

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