MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City, 1st District) filed libel and cyber libel complaints on Friday, October 23, against National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag, dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. and several GMA Network journalists over a report that aired Gracioso’s claim that he delivered cash to the lawmaker.
The complaint filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Davao City names GMA Network chairman Felipe Gozon, president and chief executive Gilberto Duavit Jr., 24 Oras anchors Mel Tiangco, Vicky Morales and Emil Sumangil, and Darlene Cay, Marvin Parado and Joel San Luis, along with unnamed “John and Jane Does.”
Duterte’s lawyer, Peter Paul Danao, confirmed to Philstar.com that the complaint pertains to the September 25 episode of GMA's flagship broadcast 24 Oras, which aired pre-recorded interviews with Gracioso and Matibag.
In an initial statement, GMA Network said it had yet to receive a copy of the complaint.
Matibag said in an ambush interview that it was Duterte’s prerogative to file the complaint.
GMA had been the first to report on the affidavit of Gracioso, a former security aide to former House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. In it, Gracioso claimed that he delivered suitcases of cash to Vice President Sara Duterte, her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and her brother on Velasco’s instructions.
He claimed to have delivered more than P2 billion to the vice president, P1 billion to the elder Duterte, and P100 million to Paolo Duterte.
The vice president and her brother have denied the allegations.
Matibag had earlier said Gracioso’s claims were "99 percent" truthful based on polygraph tests conducted by the bureau, though the NBI’s investigation into the allegations remains open.
Libel is punishable under the Revised Penal Code. Meanwhile, cyber libel, which covers defamation committed through a computer system, falls under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and carries a penalty one degree higher.
Press freedom groups have long raised concerns about the use of cyberlibel against Filipino journalists, especially during the presidency of the elder Duterte.
In that period, then-Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa was convicted of the offense in a case rights groups denounced as a "miscarriage of justice" and a form of harassment.
The government's own rights body, the Commission on Human Rights, has flagged how libel provisions in the Revised Penal Code and the cybercrime law have been repeatedly weaponized to silence critics.
— Cristina Chi with reports by Ian Laqui