(CMFR/IFEX) – The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) received notice of yet another complaint from a controversial audio technician, who this time, filed five libel suits against the organization on 27 March 2006 in Quezon City. In his latest complaint against PCIJ, engineer Jonathan Tiongco said he “is being harassed by PCIJ,” referring to […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) received notice of yet another complaint from a controversial audio technician, who this time, filed five libel suits against the organization on 27 March 2006 in Quezon City.
In his latest complaint against PCIJ, engineer Jonathan Tiongco said he “is being harassed by PCIJ,” referring to the most recent appearance by PCIJ executive director Sheila Coronel in a Senate hearing on 14 March.
During the hearing, Coronel told members of the Justice and Human Rights Committee how the Quezon City police, along with Tiongco, tried, but failed to secure a warrant to search the PCIJ office. In his latest complaint-affidavit, Tiongco said he never applied for a search warrant, even though he and three policewomen were seen by journalists and the PCIJ lawyer at the office of RTC Judge Alan Balot on 13 March.
A week earlier, Tiongco had filed separate complaints of perjury and obstruction of justice against the same organization. In those complaints, Tiongco said the PCIJ was harassing him and his family so that he “may not testify in favor of the government.” The latest libel charge is Tiongco’s seventh suit against PCIJ.
Also included in the libel suit were nine other media executives and their reporters, who Tiongco claimed, published and aired what he said were “libelous quotations” from the PCIJ. Named respondents were: Letty Magsanoc, Isagani Yambot, Norman Bordadora,and Philip Tubeza of the “Philippine Daily Inquirer”; Maria Ressa, LuchieCruz-Valdez, and Lynda Jumilla of the ABS-CBN; and Katrice Jalbuena and Ronnie Calumpita of “The Manila Times”.
The suit is also the fourth libel charge filed by Tiongco against ABS-CBN.
Since 2005, Tiongco has filed different cases against the PCIJ, ranging from incitement to sedition to libel. Tiongco was presented by then environment secretary and now presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor on 12 August 2005 to question the authenticity of the alleged wiretapped conversations between embattled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a former elections commissioner.
The aforementioned audio recordings, popularly known as “Hello, Garci,” allegedly contained strong proofs that Arroyo rigged the presidential elections in 2004.
PCIJ had posted these recordings on its blog. Recently, Department of Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez “has spoken and announced that the PCIJ is being monitored for illegal posting of wiretapped material which tends to incite the public to sedition.”
