CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 25 August 2026) — Environmental and human rights lawyer Tony La Viña is preparing a P2-million civil suit against retired Army Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for allegedly repeatedly red-tagging him on social media.
La Viña told reporters he would file the case upon returning to Manila after the Feast of Saint Augustine in Cagayan de Oro this week. He expressed concerns for his safety, citing his frequent fieldwork as an environmental and human rights defender.
“I want to go to the field without looking over my shoulder. I want freedom of movement without fear,” La Viña said.
The Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) accused Parlade of targeting La Viña due to his legal defense of former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo, former ACT Teachers party-list representative France Castro, and activists known as the “Talaingod 13.” The UPLM stated that red-tagging, denounced by the Supreme Court in Deduro vs. Vinoya, endangers lives and justifies legal protection like a writ of amparo.
La Viña, a Cagayan de Oro native, has been a human rights lawyer for 36 years. He teaches law, philosophy, and governance at multiple universities and formerly served as Dean of the Ateneo School of Government. Currently, he is managing partner of La Viña Zarate and Associates, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and chairs the Philippine Judicial Academy’s Jurisprudence Department.
He is also founding president of the Movement Against Disinformation, chair of the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility, and vice-chair of the Samdhana Institute’s Board of Trustees. La Viña writes the column Riverman’s Vista for MindaNews. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
