Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio strongly condemned Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte for filing cyber libel complaints against GMA Network executives and journalists.
Tinio described the move as a blatant attack on press freedom and a desperate attempt to shield the Duterte family from accountability.
Duterte filed the complaints before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Davao City, naming among the respondents GMA Network’s Felipe Gozon and Gilberto Duavit Jr., and veteran journalists Mel Tiangco, Vicki Morales, Emil Sumangil, and Darlene Cay.
Duterte also filed cyber libel complaints against National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag.
The cases stemmed from the disclosure of Rodulfo Gracioso Jr., a dismissed policeman, that he delivered billions of pesos worth of cash to Vice President Sara Duterte, as well as the NBI flagging irregularities in 47 of 100 flood control projects in Duterte’s own district.
“The timing of these complaints exposes their true purpose. This is not about seeking justice—this is about intimidating journalists who dare to report on the flood control mess and the staggering allegations of corruption that touch the very family of the respondent,” Tinio said.
“The filing of cyber libel suits against journalists has long been a weapon of choice of the powerful to harass, burden, and silence the critical press. We have seen this playbook before—during the shutdown of ABS-CBN and the continued persecution of Rappler’s Maria Ressa. Now, they are at it again, this time targeting GMA Network. Make no mistake: an attack on one media institution is an attack on the entire free press and on the people’s right to know,” Tinio added.
Tinio pointed out that journalists like Tiangco, Morales, Sumangil, and Cay were merely performing their duty as enshrined in the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press as a cornerstone of democracy.
“Journalists report on matters of paramount public interest—billions in flood control funds, allegations of cash deliveries, investigations by the NBI. These are matters that every Filipino has the right to know. For this, they now face criminal complaints filed in Davao, far from Metro Manila, in what appears to be an added burden designed to exhaust and harass them,” Tinio also said.
Tinio called on the Filipino people to take a stand against such attacks on the press and challenged his colleagues in the House of Representatives.
“Freedom of the press is not negotiable. If we allow the mighty and the corrupt to weaponize the law against journalists, we allow the death of truth itself. We stand with GMA Network, with all journalists, and with every Filipino who demand transparency and accountability in government,” Tinio said.