TV and radio host Ben Tulfo. INQUIRER file photo / EDWIN BACASMAS
ILOILO CITY—The Iloilo City Prosecutor’s Office (ICPO) has approved filing a criminal complaint for three counts of cyber libel against broadcaster Ben Tulfo for castigating an Iloilo-based lawyer publicly.
In a 15-page resolution dated May 30, the ICPO said Tulfo “cast doubt on the character of (lawyer Kazper Vic Bermejo) and exposed him to public ridicule in Tulfo’s “Bitag” public affairs program.
It also dismissed Tulfo’s defense that his statements against Bermejo were “true and fair” and in good faith.
“(Tulfo’s) report was neither fair nor true,” according to a resolution penned by Adri Anne Montes-Española, senior assistant city prosecutor, and approved by city prosecutor Peter Baliao.
The resolution cited Tulfo’s “derogatory remarks and baseless aspersions” against Bermejo.
The resolution stemmed from Tulfo’s comments against Bermejo on Bitag’s Youtube channel in August last year, where Tulfo castigated Bermejo for handling a complaint for grave threats filed by a client of the lawyer against a resident of Concepcion town in Iloilo.
Tulfo had cited purported irregularities and violations of legal processes in filing the criminal complaint and issuing an arrest warrant against the respondent.
He accused Bermejo and his client of circumventing legal procedures by directly filing a criminal complaint for grave threats before a court instead of subjecting it to reconciliation at the barangay level.
Tulfo, who admitted that he was not a lawyer, but an “investigative journalist,” called Bermejo hard-headed and “may gatas pa sa bibig (newbie),” aside from repeatedly asking him why he would not admit to his purported mistakes.
He said he wanted “to school this attorney” so Bermejo would learn.
But the ICPO, in its resolution, said: “It is not true that (Bermejo) circumvented the law by directly filing the complaint for grave threats before the court.”
It also quoted a 2019 Supreme Court decision penned by Justice Marvic Leonen that affirmed a libel conviction of Tulfo’s brother Raffy and several others.
“… Journalists should observe high standards expected from their profession. They must take responsibility for the accuracy of their work, careful never to deliberately distort facts or context by verifying information before releasing it for public consumption,” according to the high court decision.
The Iloilo and Capiz chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines criticized earlier Tulfo for displaying “grossly unethical journalism in the guise of ‘investigative journalism’.”