Lorraine Badoy sued — again — at Ombudsman for labeling Maria Ressa as state enemy
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy is facing yet another administrative complaint for her attacks on Filipinos she considers "enemies" of the government, with the latest filed by the first Filipino to be conferred a Nobel Peace Prize.
Maria Ressa, CEO of online news site Rappler, is suing the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson for alleged violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees, and for Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interests of the Government and Misconduct.
Badoy — identified in some suits as Lorraine Badoy-Partosa — is already facing a string of administrative complaints related to her repeated attempts to link dissent and criticism to armed rebellion and terrorism.
She previously and separately accused Vice President Leni Robredo, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and a number of rights workers, activists and a nun of ties to communist rebels. All have denied the accusations.
The case is based on, among other things, an article posted on the NTF-ELCAC's official website and in Badoy's capacity as a government official that brands Ressa as a "mouthpiece of enemies of the state" and an "enemy of the people," an accusation that Ressa says "places me in grave risk by implying that I am a danger to the government [or] Philippine society that must be killed or neutralized."
Ressa points out in her complaint that Badoy's article is published as "Usec. Lorraine Badoy", which references her official appointive position within the Presidential Communications Operations Office — which is under the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.
"These posts by [Badoy] have served as the rallying point for other persons to attack and harass myself, Rappler, and other journalists for simply doing our job: fact-checking and pursuing the truth," Ressa wrote in her complaint affidavit.
READ: Philippine journalists continue to face harassment — US State Department report
"This is easily seen in the hundreds of cruel, malicious, and malevolent comments from other persons attacking me and my fellow journalists," Ressa also said. "Thus, I seek to hold [her] accountable for failing to uphold the highest standards of professionalism as well as to observe proper decorum and decency that tarnishes the reputation of public office."
In that same post, Badoy also branded Rappler as a group of "liars and unethical journalists" who "have no love for country and whose clear intent is to destroy so much of what we hold dear: our freedoms, our indigenous peoples, our President and this government."
In another Facebook post, Badoy claimed without proof nor basis that Rappler was "being a friend and ally of, and defending, the [Communist Party of the Philippines], the [New People's Army], and the [National Democratic Front.]"
Badoy later went on to praise hackers who launched distributed denial of service or DDoS attacks against websites — including Rappler's website — whom she called "computer geniuses."
Ressa also pointed to an interview dated June 6, 2021 published by state-run Philippine News Agency, where Badoy confirmed that her statements were "the official stand of the NTF-ELCAC, which is headed by the President."
Lawyer Tony La Viña, the spokesperson for the petitioners who hurled the first set of administrative complaints against Badoy, said that the raps were "only the first in a series of complaints and legal action" that the group is preparing in the coming weeks.
The Commission on Human Rights has warned that the practice of red-tagging, which has increased in 2020, "violates the constitutional guarantee of presumption of innocence and may have serious implications on the security and movement of individuals and groups involved." The UN rights office has made similar remarks, adding that the labeling of dissent as terrorism has been institutionalized in the Philippines and will be dificult to reverse.
Badoy has denied that her task force practices red-tagging, preferring to call its conflating activists with armed combatants "truth-tagging." The NTF-ELCAC has repeatedly been caught spreading false information to justify its labeling of legitimate organizations.
RELATED: No statement from Palace yet on journalist Ressa, first Filipino to receive Nobel Peace Prize
— Franco Luna with a report from Kristine Joy Patag
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