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Castro denies reporting of alleged death threat 'attempt to suppress speech, expression'

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176838740511720260113090128_7cc53049afe8d29ac476a04ae98b038a5a8dc5b861fab9827c6e870e1a86e3c8.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em></em>Claire Castro/FILE<em></em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA— Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro on Wednesday refuted a statement asserting that her reporting of an alleged death threat to the National Bureau of Investigation is &quot;an attempt to suppress speech and expression that is critical of the Marcos administration.&quot;</p><p>The claim was made by former Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan through their Facebook account &quot;Luminous.&quot;</p><p>“By making this report and publicizing it to the full extent that the resources of PCO can, she intends an unmistakable chilling effect on others who post their opinions and criticism of Public Officials in the exercise of their official functions on social media,” the statement read.</p><p>“Ang nauna po kasi dito ay ang kanilang pagbabanta. Ang pagbabantang ito ay siyang nagnanais na i-suppress ako sa aking pagsagot at pag-debunk sa mga false allegations at mga fake news na ipinalalabas ng iba’t ibang grupo na maaari nilang kaalyado. Mas nauna po ang pananakot,” Castro said in a Palace press briefing Wednesday, January 14.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/13/pcoo-usec-claire-castro-reports-alleged-death-threats-to-nbi-1732">PCO Usec. Claire Castro reports alleged death threats to NBI</a></div><p>“Ang pananakot na ito, ano po ba ang dapat sagot? Hindi po ba dapat i-report para sa aking proteksyon. So paano po magkakaroon ng suppression of freedom of expression ang pagsumbong lang ng pananakot sa akin? Sila po ang nagnanais na ako ay patigilin sa aking pagsasalita dahil sa kanilang pananakot sa aking buhay,” she stated.</p><p>The Palace official also responded to the writers’ remark saying that Castro “has been called many things in other posts in other platforms, yet she never felt compelled to ‘report’ any of them to the NBI.”</p><p>“Unang-una, hindi po kasi ako madalas manood ng anumang mga vlogs na alam kong mga fake news. Ito lang po ang dumaan sa akin at nakita ko po mismo ‘yung post at prerogative ko po kung sino ang aking isusumbong at kung sino ang nakapanakot sa akin,” she said.</p><p>“At sa kanilang post, ang sabi po ay ‘kung ilalaglag ako ng aking humans, appendix at coccyx ko lang ang walang latay’ dahil sa aking pinaggaggawa. ‘Yun ay malinawag na papanakot. So parang sinasabi ba nila na pare-parehas silang gumawa ng mali, bakit sila lang ang napansin. So it means inaamin nila na sila ay may pagkakamali,” Castro added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><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/bQuRvz7samg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>“Ang pananakot na ito, ano po ba ang dapat sagot? Hindi po ba dapat i-report para sa aking proteksyon. So paano po magkakaroon ng suppression of freedom of expression ang pagsumbong lang ng pananakot sa akin?” Castro stated.</p>

“Ang pananakot na ito, ano po ba ang dapat sagot? Hindi po ba dapat i-report para sa aking proteksyon. So paano po magkakaroon ng suppression of freedom of expression ang pagsumbong lang ng pananakot sa akin?” Castro stated.

Castro denies reporting of alleged death threat an 'attempt to suppress speech, expression'

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Castro denies reporting of alleged death threat an 'attempt to suppress speech, expression'

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 14, 2026 06:57 PM PHT

Read More:

Claire Castro

PCO

Trixie Cruz-Angeles

Ahmed Paglinawan

Death threats

NBI

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