Ched Rick Gatchalian

Broadcast personality Atom Araullo (left) poses with his lawyer, Atty. Tony La Viña, before filing a P2-million complaint for civil damages at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on September 11, 2023 against Jeffrey Celis and Lorraine Badoy, allegedly for red-tagging him. Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

Atom Araullo's civil suit win vs Badoy, Celiz 'opens option for victims of red-tagging'

Izzy Lee

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1734088030360paint.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Broadcast personality Atom Araullo (left) poses with his lawyer, Atty. Tony La Viña, before filing a P2-million complaint for civil damages at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on September 11, 2023 against Jeffrey Celis and Lorraine Badoy, allegedly for red-tagging him. Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Broadcast personality Atom Araullo (left) poses with his lawyer, Atty. Tony La Viña, before filing a P2-million complaint for civil damages at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on September 11, 2023 against Jeffrey Celis and Lorraine Badoy, allegedly for red-tagging him. <em>Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(2nd UPDATE)</strong> — The civil suit win of Atom Araullo against former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy and host Jeffrey Celiz might set an important precedent to aid other victims of red-tagging, according to the broadcast journalist. </p><p>In a statement, Araullo welcomed the ruling of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 that ordered SMNI hosts Badoy and self-confessed former New People&#x27;s Army (NMPA) official Celiz to pay Araullo P2.080 million in damages and lawyers’ fees after &quot;maligning him as a person and as a journalist&quot; through red-tagging.</p><p>&quot;I am elated by the court&#x27;s ruling. Above all, this case opens up a legal option for anyone who has been a victim of red-tagging and harmful disinformation, particularly journalists,&quot; he said.</p><p>He also emphasized that &quot;it&#x27;s not okay to be attacked or harassed&quot; by simply doing one&#x27;s duties.</p><p>In a 27-page decision dated December 12, 2024, Judge Dolly-Rose Bolante reflected a Supreme Court&#x27;s decision on the case of<em> Deduro v. Major Gen. Vinoya</em> in May 2024, declaring red-tagging as &quot;a threat to a person&#x27;s right to life, liberty, and security&quot;.</p><p>The complaint was filed in September 2023 as a P2 million civil suit instead of a criminal complaint, as Araullo initially highlighted that he opposed the criminalization of libel.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mM2eITABFYs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>DEFAMING ARAULLO, FAMILY</strong></div><p>The decision recalled plaintiff Araullo&#x27;s claims in his Judicial Affidavit, saying Badoy and Celiz &quot;persistently targeted and defamed&quot; him and his mother Carla, through a supposed &quot;red-tagging spree&quot; from early 2022 until January 2023.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/20/house-of-representatives-revokes-smni-franchise-1850">House of Representatives revokes SMNI franchise</a></div><p>Araullo decried the &quot;defamatory attacks&quot; made by Badoy and Celiz in the talk show &quot;Laban Kasama Ang Bayan,&quot; a SMNI News Channel segment, and in a video clip of Celiz posted on &quot;Today&quot; Facebook page.</p><p>The court firmly stated that the defendants &quot;deliberately sought to discredit and inflict harm&quot; to Araullo as a person and as a journalist by &quot;associating him with the CPP-NPA-NDF without proof&quot;.</p><p>&quot;These labels and remarks went beyond mere editorial opinion or fair commentary and worse, incited backlash, threats and public hatred toward the plaintiff,&quot; the decision reads, while showing samples of notably vile comments from viewers and followers of Celiz and Badoy.</p><p>&quot;These statements labeling the plaintiff as an enabler, supporter, and member of the CPP-NPA-NDF, identified by the government as a communist and terrorist group, clearly exemplify red-tagging,&quot; the court said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/8/sc-recognizes-danger-of-red-tagging-says-may-justify-writ-of-amparo-1127">SC recognizes danger of &#x27;red-tagging,&#x27; says may justify writ of amparo</a></div><p>The court reiterated Supreme Court&#x27;s characterization of and decision on red-tagging which &quot;involves the branding of individuals as communists, terrorists or enemies of the State, without factual evidence.&quot;</p><p>The highest court earlier acknowledged red-tagging as a &quot;form of harassment and intimidation&quot;.</p><p>Moreover, the QC court agreed with Araullo that Celiz and Badoy&#x27;s &quot;meddling&quot; with his life and family had caused &quot;damage and injury to his dignity, personality, and peace of mind&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The accusations pried into the family life of the plaintiff, disturbed his family relations, and publicly humiliated him and his mother. The remarks have also incited unwarranted hostility against the plaintiff and his mother,&quot; it added.</p><div><strong></strong><strong>&#x27;A WARNING TO RED-TAGGERS&#x27;</strong></div><p><strong></strong>The National Union of Journalist in the Philippines (NUJP) welcomed the court&#x27;s decision, saying it serves as a warning to those who would use red-tagging and defamation against journalists.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/04/14/23/ph-journos-face-old-new-forms-of-threat-nujp-study">PH journalists face old, new forms of threat including lawfare: NUJP study</a></div><p>&quot;Apart from the moral victory and vindication, this court win shows — as activists and rights defenders have repeatedly raised —that red-tagging causes actual damage and harm,&quot; the NUJP said in a statement.  </p><p>&quot;May it also serve as a warning to red-taggers that the media community can, has, and will hold you accountable in as many venues are available,&quot; they continued.</p><div><strong>&#x27;PRICE OF STANDING UP&#x27;</strong></div><p>Celiz meantime slammed the court decision, and claimed that it put them at risk. </p><p>&quot;The price of standing up and fighting for our country and our people against the evils of communist terrorism of the [Communist Part of the Philippines-New People&#x27;s Army-National Democratic Front] and their colluders, conspirators, benefactors and enablers, is indeed high and the risks of resulting dangers and &#x27;consequences&#x27; to our individual safety and personal peace, are likewise real,&quot; he said in a Facebook post.</p><p>Neither Celiz nor Badoy have shown proof of their accusation against Araullo.</p><p>He said he sees the decision as an &quot;apparent miscarriage of justice&quot;, alleging that the QC court proceeded with trial &quot;without (them) being given the chance of presenting (their) evidences, testimonies, and witnesses).</p><p>Celiz said they are facing two more ongoing civil cases filed by former lawmaker Teddy Casin̈o and of activist Carol Araullo, Atom&#x27;s mother.</p><p> &quot;On my part, I shall persevere to continue with my commitment to help our country and our people to fight the scourge of this long-enduring evil of communist terrorism,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>&#x27;UNPERTURBED&#x27;</strong></div><p>In a separate statement, Badoy-Partosa said she is &quot;unperturbed by this temporary setback&quot;, adding they had expected the decision after lawyer Mark Tolentino &quot;failed to give my pre-trial brief on time.&quot;</p><p><strong></strong>She added: &quot;I lost this case on a mere technicality, in other words.&quot; </p><p>She insisted on her accusations against Casiño and against Carol Araullo.</p>

<p>The civil suit win of broadcast journalist Atom Araullo against former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy and host Jeffrey Celiz might be setting an important precedent to aid other victims of red-tagging.</p>

The civil suit win of broadcast journalist Atom Araullo against former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy and host Jeffrey Celiz might be setting an important precedent to aid other victims of red-tagging.