Atom Araullo files P2-M civil suit vs Badoy, Celiz

BROADCAST journalist Atom Araullo on Monday filed a lawsuit against former Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz for linking him and his family to the communist insurgency that the government has been battling for decades.

Araullo is the son of Carol Araullo, chairperson emeritus of militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), who filed a separate damage suit in July against Badoy and Celiz for using their program on Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) to make claims about her alleged involvement in the communist movement.

Represented by lawyers from the Movement Against Disinformation led by Atty. Antonio La Viña, the journalist asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to order Badoy and Celiz pay P2 million in damages for their “defamatory statements.”

“This is in connection with a series of unsubstantiated accusations and personal attacks the pair have made against me and my family through their programming on SMNI and on various social media platforms,” Araullo said in a statement.

“It is my considered belief that the nature of their remarks goes far beyond the boundaries of fair criticism and are designed to discredit, intimidate, and foment public animosity towards both me and my family. It also seems to be part of a broader pattern to harass and undermine members of the media whose reporting does not fit their agenda,” he added.

Araullo said he initially chose to ignore the attacks “owing to their apparent absurdity.”

“But because I’ve seen how treacherous, persuasive, and harmful disinformation can be, especially when left unchecked, I have resolved to push back. I am doing this for the safety and well-being of my family, but I also hope it contributes in a modest way to protecting press freedom in general,” he said.

Araullo, who works for GMA Network, stressed that “malicious perpetrators of disinformation must be stopped and held accountable.”

Responding to the civil complaint, Badoy said that while she was amused by Araullo’s move, ultimately it was intended “to silence, scare, and harass us.”

Several journalist groups, meanwhile, expressed their support for Araullo.

“We call on the media community and the public to stand with red-tagged colleagues and reject the narrative being peddled by Badoy-Partosa, Celiz and their sidekicks,” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said.

“This practice has to stop. It’s time for these malign red-taggers to face the full force of the law.”