Incessant

The Masbate provincial officials are not letting up putting pressure on community journalists responsible for filing graft charges against them.

Recall that a group of community journalists investigated public works projects initiated by the provincial government. On the basis of their findings, they filed plunder complaints last year against the provincial governor and some of his officials. The complaint is now being assessed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Since then, the local powerbrokers have made sure life would be difficult for the courageous journalists affiliated with the Masbate Quad Media Society, Inc. (MQMSI).

The journalists were red-tagged and charged for murder in connection with a killing attributed to the CPP-NPA. Under tremendous pressure, one of the journalists withdrew his plunder complaint against the provincial officials. The MQMSI has since refiled the complaint, confident in their findings.

Masbate provincial prosecutor Jeremias Mapula filed two separate murder charges against leading members of the MQMSI last July. Caitangan, Masbate RTC Judge Teofilo Tambago has since dismissed one murder charge, setting the stage for the dismissal of the other murder charge.

The dismissal surely emboldened the journalists awaiting the ombudsman’s action on their plunder complaint. But it might be too early to celebrate a victory for a free and vigilant press.

Judge Tambago issued his decision last Aug. 30, dismissing the murder charge for lack of probable cause. The decision cited the glaring inconsistencies and conflicting statements made by the complainants and the witnesses produced by the Masbate provincial prosecutor.

Between Aug. 21 and 29, however, Masbate provincial officials filed 17 cyber libel cases against MQMSI leader Edarlito Doremon Jr. and DYME news producer Arnel Bello. Listed as complainants in this new wave of cases against the journalists are: Masbate provincial budget officer Liborio Gonzales Jr., provincial administrator Rino Revalo, OIC provincial engineer Ralph Bacolod, provincial legal officer Lowell B. Pillejera, provincial accountant Glenda Talisic and provincial treasurer Eduardo F. Arcenas.

Doremon, as reported in this space previously, led the journalists who filed graft and plunder complaints against Masbate Governor Antonio Kho and the provincial officials mentioned above. The complaints cover a set of “ghost” infrastructure projects undertaken by the provincial government in 2022.

Of the slew of cyber libel cases filed by Masbate provincial officials, Doremon concludes: “They obviously want to trap us and get us to withdraw the graft and plunder cases we have filed. We are calling on the ombudsman to put a stop to this harassment and grant our urgent motion to issue a preventive suspension against Gov. Kho and the other provincial officials because they are using their position and their power to harass us whistleblowers of ghost infrastructure projects.”

Indeed. And the longer it takes for the ombudsman to act on this complaint, the greater the likelihood more charges might be filed against the community journalists.

Politically motivated

This case took a different turn.

In a press statement, Abra Vice Governor Joy Valera Bernos described a decision issued last month by the Office of the Executive Secretary as “politically motivated.” The decision reinstates a suspension order issued against Bernos four years ago, when she was serving as governor of the province. The decision was in response to claims made that the then governor acted rashly in implementing measures to help contain the effects of the pandemic in Abra.

Of those measures, Bernos says: “Any local chief executive would give priority to constituents and their protection in the light of the uncertainty of how to best manage the pandemic. I will always err on the side of Abreños, that is for the better good of everyone. Hard decisions needed to be made then, conscious of the need to take care of everyone. That was my oath of office.”

The complaint against Bernos for “excessive use of authority” and “bad faith” was initially filed with the Office of the Ombudsman. That was the usual course for complaints like this one.

On May 4, 2022, the Office the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint filed against Bernos. The ombudsman observed that Bernos, as governor, acted in good faith and within the bounds of the governor’s duties as a public servant in the midst of a state of calamity.

Throughout the health emergency, no health care professional was prevented from practicing in Abra. At that time, the severity and duration of the pandemic was impossible to know.

The ombudsman’s dismissal of the complaint should have ended the matter. The complaint, from the face of it, appears trivial.

But something strange happened. The Office of the Executive Secretary intervened in the case and brought it under its jurisdiction. On that basis, the Executive Secretary issued what could be a controversial decision on the matter.

This becomes even more complicated. Last Sept. 4, the Abra regional trial court issued a temporary restraining order against the suspension meted against Bernos. The court noted that since Bernos is no longer governor, the decision to implement the suspension by the Office of the President and the Department of the Interior and Local Government is moot and academic.

That might seem obvious. But nothing is too obvious in Filipino politics.

Bernos notes the Executive Secretary’s insistence on suspending someone who is no longer governor happens a month before the filing of certificates of candidacies. Reviving the suspension issue creates political complications.

But should the Executive Secretary, for whatever reason, overrule the ombudsman?