Palace exec raises ‘retaliatory legal acts’ vs 2 Masbate journos

Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) head Paul Gutierrez. —Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — The murder raps lodged against two broadcasters in Masbate who previously filed graft and plunder cases against local officials might be “retaliatory legal acts” to intimidate them and suppress their right to free speech, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) warned on Tuesday.

PTFoMS Executive Director Paul Gutierrez said he wrote to Masbate Provincial Prosecutor Jeremias Mapula to seek clarification on the case against Benjamin Gigante and Jose Alfaro, both broadcasters for dyME radio station and members of Masbate’s Quad Media Association, who were charged for the killing of a certain Richard Bauso on April 6 in Cawayan, Masbate. They were also accused of being communist rebels.

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Last month, a local court recalled the arrest warrant against the two broadcasters over the August 2022 killing of Virgil Arriesgado that was allegedly carried out by communist rebels.

Strategic lawsuits

“In both incidents, it appears these local media personalities were first accused of being members of the local communist terrorist movement in Masbate before being linked to the murder of the above victims,” Gutierrez said in his letter to Mapula.

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While Mapula may have “sufficient basis” to link Gigante and Alfaro to the communist insurgency, Gutierrez noted that in some instances, local journalists who got on the bad side of local officials ended up being accused of crimes or membership in terrorist organizations.

He said this was tantamount to lodging strategic lawsuits against public participation.

“A strategic lawsuit against public participation suit is a ‘retaliatory legal act’ aimed at intimidating and distracting the accused from pursuing his original complaint against his accuser or suppressing his right to free speech and expression,” Gutierrez said.

Last week, Quad Media Association expressed concern over the filing of murder cases against its members, adding that Gigante and Alfaro were “wrongfully labeled” as communist rebels.

The group said the charges were a “retaliatory response” to the string of graft and plunder cases that Gigante and Alfaro filed before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged ghost infrastructure projects in Masbate from 2022 to 2023.

In his letter to Mapula, Gutierrez sought assurance that the journalists’ alleged links to communist rebels had been validated by the appropriate intelligence units of the military and police.

According to Gutierrez, PTFoMS is the government’s mechanism to address violations pertaining to the right to life, liberty and security of the media. The task force is chaired by the Department of Justice, of which Mapula is part of.