Intimidation

The Provincial Prosecutor of Masbate filed murder charges against two local journalists. The two were likewise accused of involvement with the communist terrorist movement.

The charges revolve around the killing of Richard Bauso in the town of Cawayan last April 6. The killing was said to have been carried out by the CPP-NPA. Charged were broadcasters Benjamin Gigante and Jose Alfaro.

Last month, Paul M. Gutierrez of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) issued a press statement requesting the Masbate prosecutor for clarification regarding the charges filed against the local journalists. In fine, Gutierrez wanted to know if the accusation of membership with the CPP-NPA was validated with intelligence units of the AFP and the PNP.

Gutierrez recalls that a local court withdrew a warrant of arrest issued against broadcasters Gigante and Alfaro, along with three other journalists. The withdrawal of a warrant happens when a court finds the initial evidence insufficient to meet the criteria of probable cause. This earlier case involves the killing of one Virgil Arriesgado in August 2022.

Both cases were brought to court by Masbate provincial prosecutor Jeremias Mapula.

Gutierrez observes that “in both incidents, it appears the 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 is concerned that journalists who found disfavor in the eyes of some local officials are being accused of other crimes or membership in terrorist organizations. The official says this is tantamount to “strategic lawsuits against public participation” or SLAPP.

Such lawsuits are therefore nothing more than retaliatory legal acts aimed at intimidating and distracting the accused. They are, therefore, ultimately intended to muzzle the free press and restrict their inquiries into the acts of the powerful.

It is perhaps no coincidence that the charged media men were active in the Masbate Quad Media Society, Inc. (MQMSI). This group has been vigilant in monitoring the local officials of the province. Just last week, MQMSI filed three plunder and graft complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman against Masbate provincial officials led by Gov. Antonio Kho. The charges revolve around alleged ghost infrastructure projects undertaken in 2022 by the provincial government.

The principal complainants in the case brought to the ombudsman are MQMSI members are journalists Edarlito Doremon Jr. and Benjamin Gigante. The latter is the same one charged for murder by the Masbate provincial prosecutor.

The plunder complaint covers a long list of ghost road opening, road rehabilitation and gravel-laying projects. These projects involve almost P1.2 billion in public funds – well beyond the threshold for plunder.

According to Bart Rayco, counsel for the media men, the complaints filed with the ombudsman were for plunder, malversation of public funds, violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, violation of ethical standards for public officials, grave misconduct and falsification of public documents. Should the ombudsman find merit in the complaints filed by the media men, the provincial executives could be suspended from office.

Broadcaster Ramesis “Ram” Sison, a leader of the MQSMI, says the recent cases filed with the ombudsman cover basically the same projects identified in a complaint filed much earlier by Jose Alfaro. Probably pressured by the murder case field by the Masbate provincial prosecutor, Alfaro issued an affidavit of desistance informing the ombudsman he was withdrawing the complaints earlier filed.

The MQSMI refiled the cases to cover Alfaro’s affidavit of desistance. This seems to be an act of defiance by the community of journalists in a province with a long history of political violence and warlordism.

According to the most recent reports, arrest warrants have been issued by the Caitangan, Masbate Regional Trial Court against Sison, Gigante, Alfaro and several others. This means that any time the local journalists could be detained. The local powerbrokers seem to be hoping that by arresting the journalists, the plunder complaints filed against the provincial officials would disappear.

With the provincial prosecutor linking the journalists he accused of murder with the local terrorist movement, the entire membership of the MQMSI has been effectively red-tagged. This certainly has a chilling effect on the local media.

There now seems to be a virtual race between the ombudsman suspending the Masbate provincial officials and the same officials arresting the journalists behind the plunder complaint.

What is happening with the journalists in Masbate is, alas, not unique. In many other localities, particularly where local warlords hold sway, community journalists experience varieties of intimidation in the practice of their profession. Some are tainted by association with local terrorist groups. Others face the same sort of charges filed against the MQSMI members. Still others are simply assassinated.

Community journalists, we know from the record, are a particularly vulnerable lot. They work for small newspapers or small radio stations that are unable to effectively resist the whims of the powerful.

At the same time, local journalists often find themselves in close quarter combat with those who wield tremendous power in their localities. Investigative journalism becomes a perilous craft.

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security was formed precisely because of the many instances in the past where journalists became targets of political violence. So many broadcasters have been assassinated right before their microphones. So any have been harassed with trumped up charges.

The situation in Masbate deserves the highest vigilance of the Fourth Estate.