The Makabayan Bloc solons wanted Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy to immediately resign after she posted on social media that the opposition lawmakers are “high-ranking” members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“If Usec. Badoy will continue to use her position and taxpayers’ money to criminalize dissent, she might as well leave her post,” Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arline Brosas said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Her baseless accusations against activists and legal organizations are dangerous, especially in this political climate where activists who are voicing out the demands of the crisis-hit Filipinos were being red-tagged, illegally arrested, and even killed.”
In a Facebook post, Badoy tagged the Makabayan Bloc representatives as “high-ranking party members” of the CPP, adding the group’s only goal is to weaken and destroy the government “so that the CPP may topple our democracy and install, in its place, communism.”
Badoy also serves as the spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Brosas lambasted Badoy’s remark and said the Communications Undersecretary’s salary should be returned to help the poor.
“Let’s not waste more money especially in this pandemic. Ibalik na lang sa taumbayan ang ipinapasweldo kay USec. Badoy at ang pondo para sa NTF-ELCAC lalo na at mas kailangan ng mga Pilipino ngayon ang direktang ayuda at serbisyo,” she said.
Makabayan solons want Badoy to resign
The budget briefing of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Wednesday was suspended due to Badoy’s social media post.
ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro, who pushed for the suspension, said the undersecretary’s posts “also reflect the official stance of PCOO.”
“If the undersecretary continues to stand by her baseless and unprofessional allegations, then she should resign as Undersecretary of the PCOO,” Castro said.
However, Badoy, in a Facebook post late Wednesday night, rejected the calls for her to resign.
“I’d be sorely disappointed in myself and see it as inadequacy in doing my job if they didn’t ask for anything less,” she said.
“Also, I’m not the one who has to resign because I have not deceived the Filipino people nor have I done anything to hurt them,” she added.
The official maintained that she will defend and protect Filipinos “till my last breath.”
“You can count on that being the truth because I’m no liar,” she added.