Journalist files P2 million civil suit vs Badoy

MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast journalist Atom Araullo yesterday filed a P2-million civil case against former government anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Marie Badoy-Partosa and Jeffrey Celiz over red-tagging allegations.

Araullo cited Articles 19, 20, 21, 26 and 33 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines in filing civil damages against Badoy and Celiz before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Badoy and Celiz, who claims to be a former New People’s Army member, previously described Araullo as having communist ties in their talk show on Apollo Quiboloy-owned Sonshine Media Network International.

Araullo is the son of Bayan chairperson emerita Carol Araullo, who earlier filed a civil suit against Badoy.

“There is no doubt that the plaintiff was deliberately subjected to false and malicious vilification by the defendants, who publicly branded him as the spawn of an active Communist Party of the Philippines leader, publicly accused him of taking part in an orchestrated attack against the government, publicly declared that he was a member of the CPP,” the complaint read.

Araullo said the utterances made by Badoy and Celiz had generated public hatred toward him and his mother.

Ayn Tolentino, one of the lawyers for Araullo, said among the pieces of evidence were six videos posted on social media.

“All of these contained defamatory statements,” Tolentino said.

At a press conference, Araullo said he decided not to file a criminal case against Badoy and Celiz as he is against libel.

“I am against criminalization of libel as it is being used to harass legitimate media. Despite this, there is a need to stop the malicious sources of disinformation,” Araullo said.

He said the attacks against him and his family have caused him emotional and psychological stress.

“These include violent reactions from their supporters on social media. More importantly, it limited my ability to perform my job as I need to protect my life when traveling in different parts of the country,” Araullo said.

The People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) said it support Araullo’s decision to sue Badoy and Celiz.

Altermidya commended Araullo for filing a civil complaint instead of libel case, citing its call for decriminalization.