Assaulted broadcaster files raps vs Kalinga gov

BAGUIO CITY – Broadcaster Jerome Tabanganay filed formal charges against Kalinga Gov. Jocel Baac before state prosecutors in Kalinga yesterday afternoon.

Assisted by lawyer Edward Buliyat, Tabanganay filed a complaint for physical injuries against Baac, which will accordingly become the basis of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for its administrative action against the governor.

Tabanganay’s complaint was bolstered by his colleagues’ eyewitness accounts of the incident, which has drawn national and international as a video footage showing Baac assaulting the broadcaster inside the announcer’s booth of dzRK-Radyo ng Bayan in Tabuk City last Tuesday was aired on major TV networks.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo has ordered an in-depth investigation into the incident, saying Baac’s action is “tantamount to conduct unbecoming of a public official, abuse of power and discretion.”  

Robredo said Baac “should have been more prudent and patient under such circumstances, taking into account that the radio program was live on air.”

Tabanganay said Baac “should be suspended” so he cannot influence any investigation and the eventual case that will emerge from the Kalinga prosecutor’s office.

Last Wednesday, the Regional Peace and Order Council in the Cordilleras convened to discuss the incident, while Baac was immediately relieved as chairman of the Regional Development Council with Ifugao Gov. Eugene Balittang taking his place.

Meanwhile, lawyer Henry Tubban, Baac’s legal counsel, said, “We see nothing wrong with the incident.”

Tubban, together with lawyer Christian Wandag, met with journalists here yesterday to explain Baac’s side, saying the governor “just wanted to talk” to employees of dzRK-Radyo ng Bayan.

“It was caught on video; it’s up to you to judge,” Tubban said in the dialect, adding that Baac would answer charges once filed.    

Tubban said Baac grabbed the microphone purposely to cut off any conversation on air. “It was only an accident that Jerome’s lip was hit,” he said.

Baac, together with armed bodyguards, broke into the announcer’s booth, hit Tabanganay with the guest’s microphone and allegedly even threatened to kill him. – With Eva Visperas, Raymund Catindig, Cecille Suerte Felipe