STILL NO REST Concepcion Empeño (left) and Erlinda Cadapan, mothers of missing UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, speak to supporters outside the Malolos City courthouse on Sept. 17, 2018, the day former Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. was found guilty of kidnapping. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO.
MANILA, Philippines— The mothers of two students who disappeared in 2006 sought on Wednesday the revocation of the broadcast franchise of the Sonshine Media Network Inc. (SMNI) News Channel for airing an interview with their children’s convicted kidnapper Jovito Palparan Jr., who red-tagged presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo in the same occasion.
In a 16-page complaint, Concepcion Empeño and Erlinda Cadapan, along with rights activist Cristina Palabay, said SMNI violated provisions of its franchise by airing the interview with the retired Army general now imprisoned in the national penitentiary, and asked that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) shut the network down.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances of the interview conducted in March mainly by Lorraine Badoy, a spokesperson of the government’s anti-communist task force.
The Department of Justice oversees the Bureau of Corrections, which handles the New Bilibid Prison’s management.
SMNI is owned by evangelist Apollo Quiboloy, President Duterte’s spiritual adviser who is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation on child sex trafficking and other charges. It is a public broadcasting station owned by Suwara Sug Media Corp., whose franchise was granted under Republic Act No. 11422.
Palparan earned the moniker “The Butcher” during his brutal crackdown on rights activists and other dissenters during the Arroyo administration.
‘Alliance’ with reds
The mothers of the disappeared University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, along with Palabay, the secretary-general of human rights group Karapatan, cited portions of Palparan’s interview in which he alleged and insinuated that Robredo had formed an “alliance” with insurgents for her candidacy.
They were accompanied by Antonio La Viña, Rico Domingo, and Amy Dio, lawyers from the Movement Against Disinformation, in filing their complaint.
They said SMNI had broadcast a news report echoing Palparan’s insinuations after he was asked by Badoy who claimed that Robredo was “endorsed” by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“SMNI abused its franchise and/or authority or certificate of public convenience and necessity given to it by [the NTC] by publicly airing the interview with Palparan despite the baseless accusations and Red-tagging of the latter (Robredo),” they said.
Sought for comment on the complaint, SMNI president Marlon Rosete told the Inquirer in a text message shortly before press time: “It’s none of your business.”
Platform ‘misuse’
The complainants also argued that SMNI “misused the platform” granted to it and “allowed, deliberately or otherwise, others to use its facilities to propagate false news and information.”
They said viewers and the public in general were also given “biased or unreliable information” through the SMNI reports Red-tagging Robredo, as well as the interview with Palparan.
In 2015, Palparan accused the then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of being a “supporter” of the CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
The complainants said that upon consultation with their lawyers, they concluded that SMNI “violated its responsibility to us and to the public, which we are a part of,” by making such claims against Robredo.
This should be ground to suspend, revoke or cancel SMNI’s franchise, they said.
According to Empeño and Cadapan, the claims made in SMNI’s reports seemed to have been “based solely” on statements made by Badoy, Palparan and alleged former NPA rebels during the controversial interview, which, they said, contradicted not only the provisions of its franchise but also the rules of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, of which it is a member.
“These broadcasts made by SMNI shook us considerably, both mentally and emotionally,” the mothers said, narrating how their daughters disappeared nearly 16 years ago in Hagonoy, Bulacan, and were accused of being CPP members by state forces.
Accountability
Palparan was found accountable for the disappearance of the two students who, per eyewitness accounts, were tortured by military men.
Palparan and his coaccused Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio were all convicted in 2018 by a Malolos City court of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
“Considering the unfortunate plight which our daughters were subjected to and/or despite Palparan’s incarceration, SMNI still aired the interview with the latter based on nothing more than unsubstantiated allegations and/or Red-tagging,” the complainants said.