‘NPA’ utterances behind assault of broadcaster in Tabuk City?

BAGUIO CITY—The acronym “NPA” may have been the root of the scuffle between Kalinga Gov. Jocel Baac and a government broadcaster during a June 7 live broadcast that was recorded by video and streamed online, documents showed.

On June 6, Kalinga employees supporting Baac sent Malacañang’s communications office a formal complaint against Jerome Tabanganay, an anchor of the state-run dzRK Radyo ng Bayan, for “employing hate speeches”, and for allegedly inviting communist rebels to discuss their positions on air.

But Tabanganay said his listeners were mistaken. Speaking by phone from Tabuk City, he said he had broadcast commentaries against inefficient provincial government employees, whom he referred to as “nonperforming assets,” and was not speaking about the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Tabanganay said his only encounter with rebels was a text message sent by someone claiming to be one of them during an episode of his program, “Agenda.” He was then exploring the provincial government’s apparent failure to stop the illegal numbers game “jueteng.”

The text message said: “Ka Jerome, if government cannot stop jueteng, we are willing to help. Give us the names of the bet collectors.”

Tabanganay said he read the message on air. “But I also replied that I do not favor [the NPA attacking illegal gambling operators], and that I am against armed struggle. The tapes [of the broadcasts], which we will bring out in due time, will prove this,” he said.

Petition to Palace

The petition against Tabanganay was sent to Tito Cruz, director of the Philippine Broadcasting Service, which is under the supervision of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). It was circulated at a Baguio press conference on Friday by Kalinga legal officer Kristian Wandag.

It described Tabanganay’s broadcasting style as “utterances … tantamount to inciting to sedition,” and had referred to a broadcast made on May 24 when he supposedly offered airtime to the NPA. That was the same day a security guard foiled an attempt to burn the radio station in Tabuk.

The complaint, signed by 82 people, urged the PCOO to reassign the broadcaster “for his own safety and protection against his enemies.”

On Friday, Wandag read Baac’s statement, which said Tabanganay’s “uncorrected act of irresponsible broadcasting and unfair way of handling the [program] ‘Agenda’ … is already damaging the image of the province which the provincial government [has been] trying to uplift through its various development programs.”

Baac’s statement cited Tabanganay’s alleged offer to provide armed rebels airtime in a government station.

The governor said he went to the radio station on June 7 to discuss his differences with Tabanganay because “there was no effort from the dzRK management to check [his behavior].”

Counsel problem

“I did not have any intention to hurt Mr. Tabanganay in any way … But upon entering the booth, he arrogantly said, ‘Oh, apay? (Now what?),’ which prompted me to [grab] the microphone,” he said.

Tabanganay said he filed an assault charge against Baac on Friday night, but lawyers he approached in the province declined to serve as his counsel.

“They tell me they wanted to take a neutral stand on this issue, and did not want to antagonize the governor,” he said.

One lawyer agreed to notarize his sworn statement and those of his five witnesses, Tabanganay said, but no one was available when he went to the provincial prosecutor’s office. His complaint was received by an office staff member.