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NUJP demands arrest of media killing ‘mastermind’

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Joel Reyes campaigning to reclaim Palawan governorship despite arrest warrant

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called for the arrest of former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, alleged mastermind in the killing of Palawan broadcaster Gerry Ortega in 2011.

In a statement on Ortega’s 11th death anniversary on Monday, January 24, the NUJP said former Palawan governor Joel Reyes is campaigning to reclaim the top provincial post even as he remains a fugitive from law.

“[N]ot only is former governor Joel Reyes evading his warrant of arrest for Ortega’s killing, he is running for Palawan governor, according to news reports, and is campaigning while a subject of a manhunt,” the media group said.

Reyes and brother and former Coron mayor Mario fled the country in 2012 to evade arrest related to Ortega’s murder.

Both were arrested in Phuket, Thailand in September 2015 but were freed by the Court of Appeals (CA) in January 2018.

The appellate court however reversed itself and ordered the Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa to “issue a warrant of arrest against the petitioner (Joel) and to conduct proceedings in Criminal Case No. 26839 with purposeful dispatch” in November 2019.

“What is clear is that due to a Court of Appeals directive in 2019, the Regional Trial Court of Puerto Princesa had released an arrest warrant against him for [the] murder [of Ortega],” NUJP said.

Reyes is also facing separate graft charges over the alleged misuse of P1.5 billion in Malampaya funds.

Ortega, an environmentalist and known critic of the Reyeses, was the first media killing under the then Benigno Aquino government.

The broadcaster was shot in broad daylight in downtown Puerto Princesa City after leaving radio station DWAR.

The NUJP said the lack of justice over Ortega’s murder and Reyes’ bid for the governorship despite a graft conviction add to the impunity that has surrounded attacks against journalists as well as land and rights defenders.

READ: NUJP: Where is justice in Doc Gerry’s killing?

The group added the lack of justice in Ortega’s killing is emblematic of the culture of impunity in the Philippines, reminding them how the powerful seem to make a mockery of the justice system.

“We stand with the Ortega family, Doc Gerry’s colleagues and friends in the environmental movement and colleagues in the media in calling for justice and in demanding the service of the arrest warrant against Reyes,” NUJP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Bishop renews call for release of elderly prisoner and son

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San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza appealed for pardon and parole for an elderly prisoner and her son who he describes as simple poor farmers from his diocese.

In a public petition, the prelate said 75-year old Moreta Alegre should be released due to her advanced age and physical ailments, including hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Moreta and her son Selman had been in his heart for quite some time, the prelate said, adding that after 16 years in prison, both mother and son can be offered pardon and parole

He recalled that Moreta’s husband and Selman’s father Jesus who had been arrested with them has died in prison on June 13, 2021 of cardiac arrest. Jesus was 75 years old.

The Alegres are active members of San Carlos Diocese’s basic ecclesial community called Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Katilingban, the prelate said.

READ: 2nd oldest political prisoner dies in detention

Bishop Alminaza said the Alegres were displacement victims from their 15-hectare farmland by a landlord.

“They were convicted of killing the bodyguard of a local landlord, who subsequently claimed the land that had been tilled by the Alegre family. The Alegre family led a simple life, fishing and selling copra and tuba (native wine) as the produce of their toil,” Alminaza said.

“[T]heir efforts to secure papers that the land was theirs turned futile, once they were accused of murder. Jesus, Moreta, and Salem have maintained that they did not kill the landlord’s bodyguard; the landlord testified against them, but even the wife of the bodyguard did not persist in pursuing their prosecution,” he added.

The Bishop cited Pope Francis’s plea on January 19 that prisoners should never be deprived of hope.

“We risk being imprisoned in a justice that doesn’t allow one to easily get back up again and confuses redemption with punishment,” Alminaza quoted the Pontiff as saying last Wednesday in his regular public address at the Vatican.

Alminaza said he prays that that like others with more means, Moreta and Selman would be expediently granted release in the hope that the country’s justice system works and cares for the poor.

In June 2021, Alminaza has asked President Rodrigo Duterte and justice secretary Menardo Guevarra to grant clemency to both mother and son or for the review of their conviction.

READ: Bishop seeks clemency for mother-son political prisoners

“Moreta should be allowed to spend her remaining days loving her grandchildren and reconnecting with her children. This poor family has been separated for so long, as Jesus, Moreta, and Salem were detained in Manila jails while the rest of the family remained in Negros,” the prelate said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

No justice, no genuine land reform 35 years after Mendiola Massacre—KMP

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Justice for the victims of the Mendiola Massacre and the struggle for genuine land reform they died for remain a rallying cry for farmers 35 years after the bloody incident, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said.

The farmers’ group that led 20,000 farmers in a rally near Malacanang Palace on January 22, 1987 said the 13 victims who died in the bloody dispersal are yet to given justice, as is their group’s call for an end to tyranny and for genuine land reform.

“The peasant movement pays tribute to Danilo Arjona, Leopoldo Alonzo, Adelfa Aribe, Dionisio Bautista, Roberto Caylao, Vicente Campomanes, Ronilo Dumanico, Dante Evangelio, Angelito Gutierrez, Rodrigo Grampan, Bernabe Laquindanum, Sonny Boy Perez, and Roberto Yumul who were martyrs of the Mendiola Massacre,” the KMP said.

According to other accounts, 39 were also severely injured as a result of gunshot wounds.

KMP said the incident forced the Corazon Aquino government to pass the controversial Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) to pacify farmers but the measure was still based on the flawed Ferdinand Marcos Presidential Decree 27.

Both Aquino’s CARL and Marcos’ PD27 wanted farmers to pay for the land supposedly awarded to them while landlords were generously compensated for land taken from their control.

The laws also allowed land conversions and the driving away of farmers from agricultural lands they already tilled.

The KMP has earlier repeatedly said that exemptions guaranteed CARL’s failure, including so-called stock distribution options that benefitted the Aquino-controlled Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac Province.

The law had been extended twice that allowed the 5 governments that succeeded Aquino to implement the government’s land reform program.

At least 75 percent of Filipino farmers still do not own land however.

KMP said the current Rodrigo Duterte government has in fact worsened land conversion and destroyed collective farming initiatives, giving way to stronger control by landlords and foreign agro-industrial industries of large portions of the country’s agriculture sector.

“The Duterte regime also favored over-importation of agricultural products such as rice, pork, fish and others” that drive farmers into bankruptcy and onerous debts, the KMP said.

Farmers and human rights groups also reported that 347 farmers, mostly members of peasant organizations and land rights activists, have been killed under the Duterte regime.

Genuine justice for the victims of the Mendiola Massacre will only be achieved with the implementation of a genuine land reform and the development of Filipino agriculture, the KMP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Media groups reveal renewed Baguio PNP red-tagging of journalists

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Media groups slammed renewed efforts by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Baguio City to red-tag journalists it alleges are members of Leftist organizations.

In an alert, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said at least two journalists in the Cordillera region have been invited to a fake dialogue with the Baguio City Police earlier this month that turned out to be a witch-hunting activity against journalists and activists.

On January 14, the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club Inc. (BCBC) and NUJP’s Baguio-Benguet chapter said BCBC president Aldwin Quitasol was invited by the Baguio City Police to attend a so-called dialogue that turned out to be part of its Community Support Program White Area Operation (CSP-WAO), a component of the government’s Oplan Kapayapaan targeting suspected sympathizers of communist rebels in conflict-affected areas.

The second journalist refused to be identified.

 ‘Stop red-tagging’

In their joint statement BCBC and NUJP Baguio-Benguet demanded a stop to the red-tagging and witch-hunting of journalists.

“We are strongly concerned by the renewed effort of the (PNP) to drag us in their counterinsurgency campaign through Dumanon, Makitongtong (Seek and Talk), which the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) adopted from Oplan Tokhang of the Duterte administration,” the local media groups said.

Whatever name it carries, the PNP’s counter-insurgency campaigns involving journalists as well as activists aims to harass and intimidate, they added.

“We urge law enforcers to cease this madness, stop targeting activists and the media in their counterinsurgency actions. We also call on local governments to take a stand and protect the people against institutionalized red-tagging and political vilification,” BCBC and NUJP Baguio-Benguet said.

Human rights violations

This month’s incident is not the first time that Baguio City Police has accused journalists of links to supposed Communist fronts.

In February 2021, the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee in CAR endorsed tokhang-type campaigns against alleged left-leaning personalities, including activists and the media.

The proposal was quietly dropped after widespread criticism, but police officials last August revived the proposal for the so-called seek and talk strategy against alleged members of left-leaning organizations, the NUJP said.

Cases of red-tagging in the Cordillera Administrative Region rose to 15 incidents in 2021 from eight complaints filed in 2020, the NUJP, quoting the Cordillera office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR-Cordillera), said.

The campaign is patterned after the tokhang campaign used in the Rodrigo Duterte government’s so-called war on drugs that, according to government data, has killed at least 6,000 victims, it added.

Following earlier police summons of Quitasol, CHR-Cordillera in June 2021 issued a resolution warning that red-tagging — linking individuals and groups to the communist armed rebellion — violates human rights.

Other rights organizations, including the UN Human Rights Office, have also warned against the practice, which they said can lead to harassment and physical attacks. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups laud HOR approval of rights defenders, COMELEC employees’ bills

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Two bills approved by the House of Representatives (HOR) on January 17 earned nods from groups supporting their enactment and asked the Senate to immediately pass pending counterpart proposals.

In separate statements on Monday, the group Karapatan lauded the passage of the bill giving protection to human rights defenders (HRDs) while election commission employees hailed the approval of the proposed law strengthening Commission on Elections (COMELEC) field offices.

The HOR approved on third reading House Bill (HB) 10576 entitled “An Act Defining the Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Human Rights Defenders, Declaring State Responsibilities, and Instituting Effective Mechanisms for the Protection and Promotion of These Rights and Freedoms.”

The chamber also passed HB 10579, “An Act Strengthening the Field Offices of the Commission on Elections by Upgrading and Creating Certain Positions,” amending Batas Pambansa Bilang 881, the country’s old Omnibus Election Code.

Long overdue

Karapatan said it lauds HB 10576’s principal authors who want to give protection to HRDs as well as to other rights advocates such as lawyers, church people, journalists, development workers and freedom of expression and association advocates.

“Maraming salamat, (Albay) Rep. Edcel Lagman, (Quezon City) Rep. Kit Belmonte, (Bayan Muna) Rep. Karlos Ysagani Zarate (and the rest of the) Makabayan bloc!” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

In a statement, Lagman said, “The enactment of the Human Rights Defenders Act will put an end to the prevailing impunity on the extrajudicial killings and extreme harassments of HRD.”

Lagman said the following are the proposed measure’s salient provisions:

  • Defines HRD as “any person, who individually or in association with others, acts or seeks to act to protect, promote, or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms, at the local, national, regional, and international levels.” This definition is broad and inclusive enough to cover HRDs in both government and private sector who may not be bona fide connected to any human rights organization.
  • Embodies the rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders such as the rights to: form associations and to peaceful assembly; represent and advocate; privacy; effective remedy and full reparation; and freedom from intimidation, reprisal, defamation, and stigmatization among others.
  • Prohibits all public authorities from participating, by acts of commission or omission, in violating human rights and fundamental freedoms. Subordinate employees have the right and duty to refuse any order from their superiors that will cause the commission of acts that contravene their duty to protect, uphold, and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. Such refusal shall not constitute a ground for any administrative sanction.
  • Strengthens the obligation of public authorities to conduct investigations on suspected human rights violations of HRDs.
  • Prohibits the public authority offender from invoking presumption of regularity in the performance of duty which presumption is commonly used as a veneer to conceal accountability for violation of human rights and freedoms. The prohibition is consistent with the rule on the Writ of Amparo.
  • Mandates government agencies to enforce and institutionalize command responsibility and impose sanctions against errant superiors in both military and civilian agencies as provided under existing laws and executive issuances.
  • Directs public authorities to adopt the human rights-based approach to governance and development including in counter-insurgency and anti-terror programs and policies.
  • Seeks to strengthen the Witness Protection Program of the Commission on Human Rights and mandates the Commission to provide sanctuaries for high-risk HRDs, particularly those who have filed formal complaints against high-ranking government officials.
  • Ensures respect for the principle of non-refoulement or the practice of not forcing refugees or asylum seekers to return to a country where they are likely to be subjected to persecution.
  • States that in exercising their rights under the Act, HRDs shall be subject only to limitations that are prescribed by law, in accordance with international human rights obligations and standards, are reasonable, necessary and proportionate, and are solely for the purpose of securing the recognition and respect for the rights and fundamental freedoms of others and meeting the reasonable requirements of public order and general welfare in a democratic society.
  • Creates an independent collegial body to be known as the Human Rights Defenders Committee composed of one Chairperson and six members. The Chairperson shall be selected by the Commissioners of the CHR from among themselves in an en banc session. The six members shall be jointly nominated by representatives of human rights organizations. The nominees shall be appointed by the CHR not by the President to underscore the Committee’s independence of the Executive.
  • States 10 guiding principles that shall be adhered to in implementing the Act and in formulating the corresponding rules and regulations. These include among others: adherence to the rule of law; active participation of HRDs in formulating, implementing and evaluating HRD protection programs; periodic risks assessments; confidentiality of personal data collected on HRDs; special attention to protection of women and LGBT HRD rights; continuous training of the Committee Secretariat; sustained adequate resources; and transparent and equitable resource allocation.
  • Expressly provides that all provisions of the HRD Protection law shall be construed to achieve its objectives and that all doubts in the implementation and interpretation of these provisions shall be resolved in favor of the HRD.

Karapatan said it is high time Congress fully enacts the measure, as “[h]uman rights defenders were killed, arrested, detained, red-tagged and threatened for so long, and a law to criminalize these acts has been long overdue.”

“We call on the Senate, specifically Sen. Richard Gordon who chairs the Committee on Human Rights, and Senate President Tito Sotto to expedite the hearings and pass the proposed HRD Bill of Sen. Leila de Lima,” Palabay said.

‘Overjoyed’

Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections Employees Union (COMELEC-EU) said its 5,000 members nationwide are “overjoyed” by HB 10579’s passage by the HOR.

The poll body’s personnel added the development is “a booster shot,” lifting morale as they prepare for May’s local and national elections.

COMELEC-EU national president Mac Ramirez said the bill will not only benefit COMELEC employees but will help ensure clean and honest elections in the future.

Principal author and ACT Teachers Party Rep. France Castro said the bill is aimed at correcting COMELEC employees’ lower salary grades and to reform the poll body’s field offices.

Castro acknowledged COMELEC-EU’s role in campaigning for the bill, members of which suffered low wages for many years.

Castro added that COMELEC personnel, whose workloads increase during election years, deserve salary increases and regularization as employees.

Both Castro and Ramirez likewise appealed to the Senate to fast track the approval of the proposed measure’s Senate counterpart. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

MIGRANTE INT’L: Unpaid Saudi OFWs may claim P10k aid from OWWA

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Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with pending salary claims in Saudi Arabia may now apply for financial assistance with the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), Migrante International (MI) announced.

While the thousands of affected OFWs wait for the result of their claim to unpaid salaries and benefits, MI said OWWA finally decided on giving a financial aid package of P10,000 per worker.

“This is a victory for our Saudi OFWs who took collective action to push for financial assistance from DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and OWWA while their labor claims are pending in Saudi Arabia,” the group said.

OWWA’s Financial Relief Assistance Program announcement. (https://frap.owwa.gov.ph/?fbclid=IwAR2mfthznaMH7e3DFKDQ0uA6bXnhBrsEHQDn55txRj0gSfaA2l8KEbLIQsU)

About 9,000 OFWs were forced to return to the Philippines in 2016 after they stopped receiving remuneration from so-called Arab mega recruitment agencies responsible for their deployment to the kingdom.

Last October, labor secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is expected to pay P4.6 billion in unpaid salaries to the OFWs in exchange for the lifting of the Philippine government deployment ban.

MI however pressed the Philippine government to “urgently and proactively” address the non-payment of salaries of the affected OFWs.

“DOLE must also ensure that it provides financial aid to those currently stranded in Saudi Arabia and were likewise affected by the Saudi Crisis because based on the requirements, they are excluded from this financial aid program,” MI added.

The migrants group also said the Philippine government must repatriate OFWs stranded in Saudi Arabia who now wish to come home. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Rights agency opposes ‘no vax, no ride’ measure

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The impending prohibition of unvaccinated individuals from public transport assaults the people’s fundamental rights, the government’s human rights agency said.

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement that the plan by the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to ban unvaccinated persons from taking public transport is in danger of being sweeping and overly broad.

“CHR fears that, while there is no direct prohibition on the right to travel with the ‘no vaccine, no ride’ policy in public transport for the unvaccinated, this policy effectively restricts the exercise and enjoyment of fundamental rights,” de Guia said.

DoTr Undersecretary Artemio Tuazon Jr. announced Wednesday that the agency orders that only fully vaccinated individuals, with some exceptions, will be allowed to take public transportation beginning January 17, Monday.

DoTr’s Department Order No. 2022 – 001 shall cover public transportation for individuals who reside, work and travel to and from the National Capital Region, Tuazon said.

Persons with medical conditions that prevent full Covid-19 vaccination shall be asked to present a medical certificate while other unvaccinated individuals out to buy essential goods and services such as food, water, and medicine shall be asked to present barangay health passes or other proofs before boarding public transport, the DoTr said.

The CHR however expressed fear that even with such exemptions, persons may be restricted in accessing essential goods and services for having no or limited access to private vehicles.

The human rights commission explained that ordinary Filipinos continue to rely on public transportation in attaining basic needs, such as for food, work, and accessing health services, including unvaccinated individuals.

“It is not sufficient that the restrictions serve the permissible purposes; they must also be necessary to protect them. Restrictive measures must conform to the principle of proportionality; they must be appropriate to achieve their protective function; they must be the least intrusive instrument amongst those which might achieve the desired result; and they must be proportionate to the interest to be protected,” the CHR said.

In a radio interview Wednesday, a leader of one of the country’s biggest transport groups also opposed the measure, saying public transport were not consulted before DoTr issued the measure.

Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide chairperson Mody Florida told DZRH that jeepney drivers will find it very difficult to check each and every passenger’s eligibility to take public transport. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Itaas walks free after 32 years

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PH’s longest held political prisoner asks government to leave him in peace

Human rights group Kapatid announced the release of the country’s longest held political detainee at 32 years, urging the government to now “let him live a peaceful life with his family.”

Juanito Itaas, convicted of killing United States Colonel James Rowe in Quezon City on April 1989, was finally released from the New Bilibid Prison on Friday night, January 8, the group said.

Kapatid said Branch 204 of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court granted the petition for habeas corpus filed by Itaas’ daughter Jarel and ordered his release, saying he already completed the service of his sentence through the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law.

Itaas was “entitled to be credited the equivalent days of the GCTA credits earned by him,” Kapatid quoted the Court as having ordered.

He was sentenced in 1991 to 39 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

Itaas was convicted as the principal in Rowe’s ambush along with University of the Philippines worker Donato Continente who was convicted as his accomplice.

Itaas and Continente were among the most celebrated political detainees under the Corazon Aquino government.

The two have maintained their innocence to this day. Continente was released in 2005.

A former Davao farmer, Kapatid said Itaas was wrongfully convicted.

The NPA took responsibility for the assassination and said those arrested and convicted were innocent, including Itaas and Continente.

Rowe was chief of the Joint United States Military Advisory Group working closely with the Central Intelligence Agency in helping the Philippine government in its counter-insurgency operations against the New People’s Army (NPA).

Kapatid commended Itaas’ release, adding it hopes it will presage more releases of political prisoners “who are foisted with trumped-up charges in retaliation for their activism or to make them the fall guy to take the blame for NPA operations.”

The group also said that Itaas hopes to be with his family he built while in jail.

“Pahinga muna ako. Gusto ko makapiling ang pamilya ko kasi ngayon lang kami mabubuo,” Kapatid quoting Itaas as saying. (I want to take a rest. I wish to spend time with my family as it will be the first time that we are together.) # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CHR to Metro Mayors: Respect rights of unvaccinated residents

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The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) urged Metro Manila mayors to observe human rights in their plan to impose restrictions on the movement of un-vaccinated residents.

Following the announcement of Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairperson Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Monday that the 17 National Capital Region mayors have agreed “in principle” to enact ordinances for “enhanced restrictions,” the CHR said such polices must be based on human rights standards.

“[A]mong others, it must be legal, necessary, proportional and non-discriminatory,” in accordance with the Siracusa Principles urging that human dignity and respect must be at the core of every government decisions concerning citizens, the CHR said in a statement.

The agency acknowledged that there are valid justifications in restricting rights, including freedom of movement, especially during national emergencies, such as the present pandemic.

But it said it remains the government’s obligation to “respect, protect and fulfill” people’s rights even during the pandemic.

“Despite the restrictions, unvaccinated individuals must also continue to be allowed to access essential services. Similar policies must contemplate valid exemptions as well, such as religious and valid medical grounds,” the CHR said.

Abalos Jr. said MMDA Resolution No. 22-01, series of 2022, had been approved in a meeting between the local executives, the MMDA and members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Abalos cited the rising cases of Covid-19 following the holiday season made worse by the threat of the Omicron variant.

The resolution urges local government units to mandate unvaccinated individuals to stay at home at all times except for the procurement of essential goods and services such as food, water, medical services, public utilities, and work.

“It’s like having an Enhanced Community Quarantine but only for the unvaccinated. It’s for their own protection. They should remain at home,” Abalos said in Filipino.

The NCR has reverted to the stricter Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15.The Department of Health reported 4,084 new Covid cases and 16 new deaths on Monday, a steep increase from mere hundreds of daily new cases before Christmas. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Media orgs join mounting calls for profane lawyer’s disbarment

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The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said it joins the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and several others in condemning lawyer Larry Gadon’s verbal assault on journalist Raissa Robles on social media as well as mounting calls for his disbarment.

“We urge the Supreme Court and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to act on them and on this recent incident,” the NUJP in a statement said.

The group said it joins with FOCAP’s and other calls to “discipline this wayward member of the bar of the boorishness and clearly unbecoming conduct. It is truly unfortunate that social media sites could be wantonly used as a platform to attack independent journalists in this gruesome manner.”

FOCAP earlier described Gadon’s online rant against Robles as “violent and aggressive verbal assault” as well as “atrocious and beastly behavior.”

“The profanity, expletives and sexist insults against Robles violate Philippine law on public decency, gender respect and the core principles of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)/It was utterly despicable, and reflective of the belligerent impunity independent and courageous Filipino journalists face for doing their constitutionally protected work in the country,” FOCAP said.

Robles is the Philippine correspondent for the South China Morning Post.

Gadon, a senatorial aspirant and backer of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was furious over Robles’ remarks on social media platform Twitter that the failure of the son of the late Philippine dictator to file income tax returns in the past raises the question of whether he paid the taxes at all.

“Like all Filipinos, Gadon has the right to challenge statements from journalists in the interest of public discourse, but never with such venom and malice that openly flout civility, respect and human rights which are protected by the country’s laws,” FOCAP said.

The media group said Gadon’s tirade is concerning because of his large following on social media who may be led to believe that using violent, misogynistic and sexist language is acceptable just because it is done online.

“We are concerned as well because online harassment can lead to or encourage harassment offline,” it said.

“This is not the first time Gadon has displayed the kind of behavior and speech that is in every sense an attack not only on Raissa and other journalists but all decent, God-fearing and law-abiding Filipinos,” the group added.

The NUJP said that, according to reports, Gadon already facing at least one disbarment complaint for maliciously alleging former President Benigno Aquino died of HIV.

Gabriela Women’s Party on Saturday said Gadon’s speech was full of profanities and misogynistic remarks and was a dangerous incitement of hate and violence toward Robles in a lame attempt to dispute the reportage on Marcos Jr.’s failure to file income tax returns.””We support calls for the disbarment of Attorney Gadon as we should no longer tolerate such barbaric behavior that tarnishes the legal profession. The rabid supporter of the Marcoses must be taught a harsh lesson for all his grossly inappropriate verbal assaults,” the group added.

Rights group Karapatan has also condemned Gadon’s “barrage of violent and misogynistic insults” against Robles that “portray the increasingly hostile and violent online environment threatening press freedom in all fronts in the country.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)