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Chief Justice Gesmundo: SC serious in protecting judges

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Chief Justice Gesmundo: SC serious in protecting judges" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/09/29/09292022-chief-justice-gesmundo-sc-serious-protecting-judges.jpg"/></figure></div><p>Badoy denies threatening judge but various groups call out &#x27;threat&#x27;</p><p>MANILA — Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Thursday assured trial judges all over the country the Supreme Court would stand by them against threats and harassments.</p><p>“[T]he Supreme Court will always look after our trial judges,” he said in a speech before judges gathered for the Annual Convention of the Metropolitan and City Trial Judges Association of the Philippines in Boracay. </p><p>“While it is our constitutional duty to supervise our lower courts, it is our moral duty to protect each of you and ensure that you are able to perform your duties free from any threat, harassment, undue influence, coercion, and, certainly, any form of violence. You can count on us,” he added.</p><p>The assurance comes a few days after former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson Lorraine Badoy linked Manila Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), while posing a hypothetical scenario of killing her, in a Facebook post.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/spotlight/09/24/22/badoy-threatens-judge-then-denies-fb-post">Ex-ELCAC spox Badoy threatens judge, then denies Facebook post</a></li></ul><p>The post was in response to the judge’s junking of the Department of Justice’s proscription case against the CPP-NPA which sought a court declaration that they are terrorist groups.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/22/22/court-junks-ph-govts-plea-to-tag-cpp-npa-as-terrorists">Rebellion is not terrorism: Court junks PH govt’s plea to tag CPP-NPA as terrorists</a></li></ul><p>The high court, on Tuesday, quickly issued a statement warning that statements that incite violence on social media that endanger the lives of judges and their families shall be considered a contempt of court.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/27/22/sc-acts-on-threats-vs-judge-warns-possible-contempt-sanctions">SC acts on threats vs judge, warns of possible contempt sanctions</a></li></ul><p>Indirect contempt carries a penalty of a fine of up to P30,000 and jailtime of up to 6 months.</p><p>Gesmundo was not part of the deliberations as he was on a business trip outside the country.</p><p>But he justified the high court’s statement on Wednesday. </p><p>In his speech Thursday, he reiterated the Supreme Court’s duty to protect judges, citing a recent decision which “categorically instructs that as long as a judicial remedy is available to a complainant, an administrative charge against a judge shall and must be dismissed outright.”</p><p>“Tallado (vs Judge Racoma, August 23, 2022) embodies Guidelines which will ensure that each and every administrative charge against our trial judges will now be studied and adjudged under more magnified lens to understand the environment and relational circumstances between the complainant and the judge, to determine if the complainant has exhibited a pattern of harassment and undue influence against the judge,” he said.</p><p>“The Supreme Court under my watch is very serious about protecting our frontliners,” he added, exhorting judges to do their jobs “efficiently, effectively, and ethically.” “And the Supreme Court will always be your safe haven.”</p><div><strong>BADOY DENIES THREAT, BLAMES CPP AND MEDIA</strong></div><p>In a new Facebook post Thursday, Badoy denied threatening to kill Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/29/22/badoy-to-sc-i-did-not-threaten-judge-malagar">Badoy to Supreme Court: I did not threaten Judge Malagar</a></li></ul><p>She insisted, an “if-then” statement is not a threat but merely a “hypothetical syllogism” which, she said, she used to make a point.</p><p>Instead, she blamed the CPP and the media, claiming that her words were “manipulated” by CPP NPA NDF and their “operatives in media.”</p><p>But various groups like HUKOM, Inc. and the Philippines Judges Assocation, both organizations of trial court judges, the Integrated Bar of the Philippoines, Movement Against Disinformation, the Chevening Alumni Foundation of the Philippines and about 200 lawyers all called her statements either a “threat” or an “attack.”</p><p>The Free Legal Assistance Group had rejected Badoy’s defense, saying she can’t hide behind the word “if.”</p><p>“While she tried to hide her threat behind the word ‘if’, her words, construed with the rest of the post describing Judge Magdoza-Malagar as an ‘unprincipled judge’ who ‘lawyered’ for them [the CPP NPA NDF]’ and is ‘a true ally…of this terrorist organization’ — are clearly a threat,” it said.</p><p>FLAG, along with other lawyers, urged the Supreme Court to cite Badoy in contempt of court.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/29/22/supreme-court-urged-to-cite-badoy-in-contempt">SC urged to cite Badoy in contempt; Badoy denies threatening judge</a></li></ul><p>University of the Philippines Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo and the UP President&#x27;s Advisory Council (UP PAC), in separate statements, considered Badoy&#x27;s statements against the judge &quot;threats”.</p><p>&quot;No hypothetical framing justifies what is tantamount to an open public threat against a lawful official, which has triggered equally pernicious comments on social media,” Nemenzo said.</p><p>&quot;While she may seek to evade legal action by resorting to seemingly hypothetical questions in her posts, the malice and moral depravity in her intent is evident, particularly her chilling statement about killing ‘this judge,’ knowing full well that she is associated with the country’s military and intelligence establishment. Her feeble disavowal of her posts as ‘fake news,’ despite ample evidence that she made them, only reinforces her lack of truthfulness,” the UP PAC said.</p><p>UP PAC is composed of the UP president, vice presidents and the secretary of UP, the chancellors of the 8 UP constituent units as well as the director of the UP Philippine General Hospital and the executive director of teh UP Bonifacio Global City campus.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The UP President&#x27;s Advisory Council also calls out Badoy for &quot;threats&quot; against Judge Magdoza-Malagar:<br/><br/>&quot;While she may seek to evade legal action by resorting to seemingly hypothetical questions in her posts, the malice and moral depravity in her intent is evident...&quot; <a href="https://t.co/nPHQ3cnIXo">pic.twitter.com/nPHQ3cnIXo</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1575394042891804672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Law professors and deans from the UP College of Law and the Far Eastern University Institute of Law are among the latest to condemn Badoy’s posts.</p><p>In a letter to the Supreme Court, UP Law Dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II and 108 law professors urged the high court to provide measures to protect Magdoza-Malagar, to hold Badoy accountable and to come up with rules to provide remedies to lawyers, prosecutors and judges who might also be attacked in the future.</p><p>“Ms. Badoy’s statements should not be allowed to remain unaddressed. The threat to kill another is a felony punished our criminal laws. Red tagging violates the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. Both undermine the rule of law and represent the continuing impunity which is key to the modus operandi of Ms. Badoy and his ilk,” the letter said.</p><p>Meanwhile, FEU Law Dean Melencio Sta. Maria and around 70 law professors called out Badoy’s “unfounded and vicious personal attacks” against Magdoza-Malagar.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Law professors and deans from the UP College of Law and FEU Institute of Law are among the latest to condemn Badoy’s posts, calling her statements either a “felony” or “unfounded and vicious personal attacks” vs Judge Magdoza-Malagar. <a href="https://t.co/2gT0R9jCsr">pic.twitter.com/2gT0R9jCsr</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1575396925960245248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>National Union of People’s Lawyer Kristina Conti, meanwhile, came to the media’s defense.</p><p>“Hindi ‘yung media ang may problema kasi siya lang naman ‘yung nagpost. The post was unedited,” she said.</p><p>Albay Rep. Edcel, who had been a target of Badoy&#x27;s prior posts, gave Badoy this advice.</p><p>“I think she should learn how to be silent or to be moderate in her statements would actually be promoting danger to the victims of her statements like the good judge who decided against the petition of the Department of Justice,” he said in an interview with ANC.</p><p>“We should submit to the judicial process. We could be critical of the decision. We could take up special or individual positions but we should always respect the judicial process and the judges who render decisions in these cases,” he added.</p><p>Lagman rejected Badoy’s invocation of her constitutional right to an opinion.</p><p>“That is a futile defense for a very aggressive and arrogant speech. It should not be protected anymore by our Constitution. She has crossed the boundary of legitimate speech,” he said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2263175" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo assured trial judges all over the country the Supreme Court would stand by them against threats and harassments.

Chief Justice Gesmundo: SC serious in protecting judges

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Chief Justice Gesmundo: SC serious in protecting judges

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 29, 2022 06:42 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 29, 2022 06:59 PM PHT

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