Bayan Muna is known for exposing corruption in the government, pushing for pro-people legislations, and advocating for peace talks. Yet why is the Marcos administration pouring billions of taxpayers’ money to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), its red-tagging and black propaganda machinery against Bayan Muna and the Makabayan Bloc? It seems the Marcos administration is so afraid to the point that it can only hurl baseless accusations against Bayan Muna and the Makabayan Bloc.
Pres. Marcos Jr. appears so desperate to cover up his incompetencies with regard to issues of poverty, joblessness, landlessness, and human rights violations. Instead of going after political dynasties and big businesses who are hijacking the government, he is directing his administration to attack the genuine representatives of the people.
Bayan Muna’s legal fights
Just recently, Bayan Muna filed an official complaint against PrimeWater and called for the rescission of all its JVAs with water districts. The Supreme Court just ended the oral arguments on Bayan Muna’s petition against the illegal transfer of P59.9-billion PhilHealth fund and the P107.23-billion Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation fund to Unprogrammed Appropriations to fund infrastructure and other programs/projects of the Marcos government.
Moreover, Bayan Muna 1st nominee Atty. Neri Colmenares is also the legal counsel of the seafarers in their petition to the Supreme Court to declare the Magna Carta of Seafarers and the escrow provision unconstitutional. Bayan Muna 5th nominee Atty. Kristina Conti is the legal counsel of the victims of Duterte’s extrajudicial killing/bloody war on drugs in the case filed in the International Criminal Court.
Bayan Muna filed at least 45 legal cases/petitions before the Supreme Court, the Comelec, and the MWSS against corruption in the government, confidential funds, onerous foreign loans and political dynasties, among others. In fact, Bayan Muna is one of the petitioners against pork barrel funds during the Aquino administration wherein the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) as unconstitutional.
Bayan Muna also filed cases against overcharging and imposition of illegal charges to consumers by Meralco, Manila Water, Maynilad, Globe, Smart, fare hikes of LRT and MRT, and the PUV Modernization Program.
Bayan Muna’s legislative track record
In 22 years in Congress, Bayan Muna passed at least 25 major laws, which include:
● R.A. 9504 – Tax Exemptions for Minimum Wage Earners,
● R.A. 9653 – Rent Control Act of 2009,
● R.A. 10639 – Free Mobile Disaster Alert Act,
● R.A. 10653 – Increased Ceiling for Tax Exempt Benefits,
● R.A. 10969 – Free Irrigation Act,
● R.A. 11036 – Mental Health Act,
● R.A. 11037 – Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act,
● R.A. 11148 – Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act,
● R.A. 11712 – Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act, and
● R.A. 11916 – Social pension increase.
Bayan Muna actively represented and gave voice to poor and the marginalized sectors in Congress. From 12th to 18th Congress, it has also authored 584 House Bills, 1,156 House Resolutions, 15 House Joint Resolutions, 2 House Concurrent Resolutions and 278 Privilege Speeches. All of these are drafted together and consulted with the ordinary people, groups and organizations.
Bayan Muna is known for pushing for pro-people legislations. Bayan Muna is one of the authors of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill, the Rice Industry Development Bill, the People’s Mining Bill, the Free National Public Health System Bill, the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill.
Bayan Muna is also the party-list of the workers. It leads the fight to increase workers’ wages and benefits, and to protect and strengthen their rights, such as the right to organize and right to security of tenure. When seated in Congress this coming 2025 elections, Bayan Muna Party-List will fight for P1,200 minimum daily wage for private workers and P33,000 minimum monthly salary for government employees. These amounts are based on the family living wage as computed by IBON Foundation.
To immediately provide relief from high prices of goods and services, Bayan Muna is also pushing for the exemption of oil, water, electricity and toll fees from VAT. The progressive party-list also proposed the enactment of Downstream Oil Regulation Bill, Centralized Procurement of Oil Bill, Renationalization of Petron Corporation Bill and Unbundling Oil Prices Bill in order to effectively prevent overpricing and lower the prices of oil and other petroleum products.
Instead of placing heavy tax on the poor and ordinary consumers, Bayan Muna proposed the enactment of Super Rich Tax Bill. It also seeks to repeal the anti-Filipino, anti-farmer, anti-consumer and anti-people laws such as the Rice Liberalization Law, TRAIN Law and Anti-Terrorism Act.
Bayan Muna, human rights defender and advocate of peace
To protect human rights, Bayan Muna authored the following laws:
● R.A. 9208 – Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003;
● R.A. 9406 – Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Act of 2007;
● R.A. 9745 – Anti-Torture Act of 2009; and
● R.A. 10368 – Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
Bayan Muna is also pushing for the passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill since 2008. It also filed the SOGIE Equality Bill, Anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Bill, Anti-Red-Tagging Bill, New Public Assembly Bill, Freedom of Information Bill, Decriminalizing Libel Bill and a Bill seeking for reparation and recognition of victims of HRV during Marcos regime. Moreover, the progressive party-list also filed numerous resolutions to investigate the killings, harassment, filing of trump-up charges and other forms of human rights violations against the Filipino people since 2001.
On 6 April 2025, Bayan Muna launched the White Ribbon Campaign nationwide to call for justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings and killings under the bloody drug war of the Duterte administration. It also calls upon President Marcos Jr. to rejoin the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), after former President Duterte unilaterally withdrew from it. However, it seems Pres. Marcos Jr. has no intention of doing so.
Bayan Muna is also an advocate of just and lasting peace by addressing the root cause of armed conflict. Since 2001, Bayan Muna is filing House Resolutions calling for peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It recognizes that to achieve a just and lasting peace, necessary systematic and structural major reforms should be implemented in the country.
Abolish NTF-ELCAC
The Filipino people are calling for the abolition of the notorious red-tagger NTF-ELCAC. The NTF-ELCAC was created by the Duterte administration through Executive Order No. 70, series of 2018. Since then, red-tagging and terrorist labeling against the opposition, individuals, groups and organizations worsen. In fact, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the community pantry organizers were red-tagged by NTF-ELCAC because of their noble cause of giving free food to their neighbors.
No less than the Supreme Court ruled that red-tagging, vilification, labelling, and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, or security. Extrajudicial killings and/or filing of trumped-up charges come after the rampant red-tagging of this task force.
The Duterte and the Marcos administrations channel billions of taxpayers’ money to the Barangay Development Fund or the “generals’ pork” of the NTF-ELCAC. It received as low as P1.95 billion in 2025 and as high as P16.44 billion in 2021. This still does not include the millions to billions of budgets for the task force lodged under the budget of its member agencies.
Even the Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the use of the generals’ pork. The Office of the President (2021) has unliquidated P33.45 million out of the total P65.19 million fund disbursement to the NTF-ELCAC. The COA, in its 2020 report, cast doubt on the efficient use of public funds by NTF-ELCAC agencies due to unauthorized fund transfers, lack of supporting documents, low utilization and absence of bidding process. Apart from COA observations there are reports and photo-shopped images of fake surrenderees.
Yet, instead of abolishing, the Marcos Jr. administration is continuing and now strengthening the NTF-ELCAC by adopting the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development. This will only worsen the human rights situation in the country.
Bayan Muna, true to its name
Bayan Muna championed the interest and welfare of the poor and marginalized sectors in the country. No one can deny Bayan Muna contribution, achievements and service to the Filipino people. No amount of red-tagging and black propaganda can smear its name and clean track record.
In its 25 years of existence, Bayan Muna has never been involved in any issue of corruption or abuse. It is one of the most formidable voices in Congress that exposes and fights corrupt officials and those who abuse the power entrusted to them by the Filipino people. Only the corrupt, human rights violators and political dynasties are afraid of Bayan Muna.
True to its name, Bayan Muna party-list puts people first, their interest and welfare above all.