NUJP wants Senate to cite blogger for contempt

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) urged the Senate to cite blogger Rey Joseph Nieto for contempt or be charged for perjury for resurrecting a discredited post at the Senate committee on public information and mass media hearing Wednesday.

In a statement, the NUJP said Nieto omitted the fact that his June 16 post unleashed a barrage of harassment and threats against Aznar.

“That Nieto did all this under oath should have earned him a perjury charge or a contempt citation at the very least,” the NUJP said.

Nieto, creator of the blog Thinking Pinoy and public relations consultant of the Department of Foreign Affairs was among the resource persons invited to the hearing into fake news.

In his testimony, Nieto again cited his claim Aznar had endangered government soldiers by posting online videos he took of the fighting in the early days of the Marawi crisis.

NUJP said that Nieto was making it appear that his post was a benign reminder to an errant journalist instead of the hate-filled and, worst of all, totally false rant.

A VeraFiles FactCheck on June 30, however said Aznar uploaded his video on the internet 73 minutes after it was taken.

Aznar for his part said Nieto’s latest statement against him are “foul and vile.”

Aznar added that both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police released a statement denying Nieto’s claims.

“That Nieto did all this under oath should have earned him a perjury charge or a contempt citation at the very least. That he did so as a consultant of the DFA, paid with the people’s money, makes it a hundred times worse,” NUJP said.

“There is no place in government – or in the field of professional communications, for that matter – for barefaced liars,” NUJP added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)