Carol Pagaduan-Araullo said that she is filing the complaints “in behalf of those who do not have the means, the opportunity and support system to do so but who are experiencing red-tagging/terrorist labelling and the harassment, if not actual terror, this brings.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – “Hold red-taggers accountable.”

This is what Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Chairperson Emeritus Carol Pagaduan-Araullo said as she filed a civil suit, July 19, against notorious red-taggers, Lorraine Badoy-Partosa and Jeffrey Celiz, hosts of “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” which airs at the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).

Araullo filed for damages under Article 19, 20 and 21 of the Civil Code against Partosa-Badoy and Celiz who “incessantly and wantonly engaged in a vilification spree to demonize” her and tar her good name and organization as well as her journalist son, Atom Araullo.

Araullo was assisted by lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers-National Capital Region (NUPL-NCR).

In a statement, Araullo said her purpose in filing the suit is to exact accountability for Badoy-Partosa and Celiz’s false, baseless and malicious public statements against her.

“So that they will stop this pernicious practice not only against me and other social activists but for many more who they have categorized as ‘enemies of the state’ because of their critical or oppositionist stance — artists, lawyers, doctors, human rights advocates, trade unionists, teachers, land reform and environment protection advocates, media practitioners and many more — to government policies or programs and crimes and abuses committed by persons in authority,” she said.

Previously, Araullo said she had chosen to ignore Partosa-Badoy and Celiz’s attacks against her in their show at SMNI.

“I thought that my unbesmirched reputation and clean track record as a social activist and leader of the progressive alliance, Bayan, would be enough to prevail over their lies and attempts at character assassination,” she said.

But with rampant disinformation on social media platforms, NTF-ELCAC’s billions of budget and the SMNI, she said that these lies, when repeated over and over seem to have been accepted as truth at least by SMNI’s unsuspecting followers and others who do not know her.

“And my not taking any legal steps to defend myself and make these red-taggers accountable has been misconstrued by some as an indication of a weak defense, if not actual guilt,” she said.

“Worse, not only myself, but the organization I lead as well as my son, journalist Alfonso Tomas
“Atom” Araullo, have become the targets of their incessant red-tagging/terrorist labelling,” she said.

NUPL-NCR said there are many cases previously filed against Partosa-Badoy’s relentless red-tagging and vilification of activists, organizations and personalities in the Ombudsman, the Commission on Elections, Civil Service Commission and Professional Regulatory Commission but there has been no progress on these cases.

50 years in the progressive movement

Araullo has been working in the progressive movement for the past 50 years. She started as a student activist in the University of the Philippines in the 1970s, had fought Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dictatorship which led to her arrest.

After finishing her medicine course in 1979, Araullo worked as a community health doctor. She is a founding member of the Medical Action Group and Health Alliance for Democracy and in the 1990s, Araullo became an officer of Bayan. In 2009, Araullo was the chairperson of Bayan. Because of her exemplary leadership and contribution to the people’s movement, Araullo became chairman emeritus of Bayan this year.

Read: Carol Araullo: A streetwise mom

In 2012, the UP Alumni Association honored Araullo with the Distinguished Alumni Award in Equality and Social Cohesion.

Under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, activists, including personalities who are vocal critics of the administration, were tagged as “terrorists” and were maliciously linked to the revolutionary groups, Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Araullo has also been a resource person to the peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Philippine government.

Read: ‘Prove it’ — Bayan tells Duterte on govt terror tag of revolutionaries, activists 

In a statement, NUPL-NCR said Partosa-Badoy and Celiz’s accusations against Araullo are “without credible factual basis, with the intent to vilify her, demean her stature accomplishments, and even cause physical harm with intense red-tagging.”

The NUPL-NCR said Badoy-Partosa attacked Araullo in many instance but identified eight key instances:
– On February 11, 2020, Badoy-Partosa claimed in an article published on the Philippine News Agency website that Araullo was a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF and had “blood on her hands;”
– On June 21, 2020, in an official post of the NTF-ELCAC on its Facebook page, Badoy-Partosa enumerated alleged communists and mentioned Araullo;
– In six episodes of “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” from 2021 to 2023, aired on SMNI, Badoy-Partosa and Celiz imputed to Araullo crimes, criminal status, and various illegal acts.

“These statements are false and are intended to malign Dr. Araullo and subject her to physical harm and ill-repute,” the NUPL-NCR said.

The lawyers group added that Araullo had already written letters to Badoy-Partosa and Celiz demanding them to stop the red-tagging and reminded them of the consequences brought about by red-tagging such as trumped-up charges and extrajudicial killings but to no avail. The show in SMNI still continues as well as the red-tagging spree of Badoy-Partosa and Celiz through Facebook, on free television and radio, the NUPL-NCR said.

Why not libel?

Although there are grounds to file libel against Badoy-Partosa and Celiz, Araullo still filed civil damages because she and her group Bayan firmly oppose the criminalization of libel and cyberlibel, the NUPL-NCR said.

“The crime of libel and cyberlibel is used incessantly to suppress free press and free speech, especially against those who expose and fight against the wrong policies and programs of the government, crimes and abuses of power by officials of government and their cronies,” NUPL-NCR explained.

The lawyers group also said that the civil suit against the two does not mean to violate the right to free expression. They explained that red-taggers, terrorist taggers and rumor-mongers are abusing their rights when:
1. there is a legal right or duty;
2. which is exercised in bad faith;
3. for the sole intent of prejudicing or injuring another.

“The exercise of any right must be in accordance with the purpose for which it was established and must not be excessive or unduly harsh. A person would be liable if he acted in bad faith, with intent to prejudice another. Malice or bad faith implies a conscious and intentional design to do a wrongful act for a dishonest purpose or moral obliquity,” the NUPL-NCR said.

“There is an array of cases that can be filed for false and malicious speech. Some can be availed of simultaneously, to secure penalties such as prison time for criminal cases, damages in civil cases, and disciplinary action in special proceedings and administrative cases,” the lawyers group said.

Meanwhile, Araullo said that she is filing the complaints “in behalf of those who do not have the means, the opportunity and support system to do so but who are experiencing red-tagging/terrorist
labelling and the harassment, if not actual terror, this brings.”

“I hope to encourage more of them to come forward and file their own complaints,” Araullo said.

The civil suit demands for a total of P 2.1 million ($39,000), minus attorney’s fees and costs of suit, against the Badoy-Partosa and Celiz. (RTS, RVO)