ILOILO City – Television host Ben Tulfo has been indicted for libel. The complaint was filed by an Iloilo-based lawyer who took offence over the host’s public “castigation” of him.
The Iloilo City Prosecutor’s Office, in a resolution dated May 30, 2022, found probable cause and recommended the filing of three counts of libel against Tulfo in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Anti-Cybercrime Prevention Act.
The complainant is Atty. Kazper Vic Bermejo who who was representing a client complaining of grave threats. He was able to secure warrants of arrest against the father of a woman that Tulfo is assisting. The woman and her family (Bernia family) are based in Concepcion, Iloilo.
In aired episodes of Tulfo’s program “Bitag” on Aug. 19, 20 and 21, Tulfo described Bermejo as an inexperienced, incompetent, proud and hardheaded lawyer, “marami pang kakaining bigas,” and “may gatas pa sa bibig.”
Bermejo in that program was berated by Tulfo, who told him “tigas ng bumbunan mo” for standing his ground that the crime that should be charged was grave threats and not slander as insisted by Tulfo.
Other defamatory imputations made against him as a person, according to Bermejo, also included the allegation that he harassed and intimidated the Bernia family, violated legal procedures and knew how to maneuver his way out, and the insinuation that his relationship with his client was one of “friends with benefits.”
According to the City Prosecutor, the said aired episodes of “Bitag”, taken in its totality, casted doubt on the character of the complainant and were injurious to his reputation.
“These aspersions effectively exposed complainant to public ridicule. In fact, the public comments of the viewers of the ‘Bitag’ episodes called complainant immoral, bastos, kiss-ass, sleeping with the client, kadiri, among others. The witnesses of the complainant also narrated how demeaning the statements of respondents against complainant appeared to them,” read part of the resolution penned by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Adri Anne T. Montes-Española and approved by City Prosecutor Peter Baliao.
The City Prosecutor also cited “badges of bad faith that point to respondent’s actual malice.”
First, it stated that some of the remarks of the respondent no longer pertained to complainant’s official duties such as the imputation that he was “friends with benefits.”
Second, the repeated publication of their phone conversation in at least three episodes, each time with derogatory remarks and baseless aspersions, suggested that respondent was motivated by malice, according to the resolution.
It added that from the moment complainant refused to be cowed by respondent and apologize to him, respondent became vindictive and was intent on destroying complainant’s reputation. These can be gleaned from his words, “Magaling ka talagang magpalusot. Ang Judge mo, nabitag na. Ikaw ang susunod na bibitagin ko.”
“True enough, in the subsequent episodes, respondent proceeded to expose complainant-attorney’s fees, engaged the public to send him the picture of the complainant so that his identity will be revealed, and challenged complainant to undergo polygraph test. Repeatedly, respondent portrayed complainant to be a lawyer of ill-repute,” read part of the resolution.
Indicting Tulfo, the City Prosecutor cited that the discussion of the Supreme Court in Michael C. Guy vs. Raffy Tulfo (Ben’s brother) et al.
Part of Justice Marvic Leonen discussion read: “More often than not, journalists are the forefront of information publication and dissemination. Owing to the nature of their work, they have the prerogative to shape the news as they see it. This Court does not turn a blind eye to some of them who twist the news to give an ambiguous interpretation that is in reckless disregard of the truth…Crafting inaccurate and misleading news is a blatant violation of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics….As such, journalists should observe high standards expected from their profession. They must take responsibility for the accuracy of their words, careful never to deliberately distort facts or context by verifying information before releasing it for public consumption.”
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Iloilo and Capiz chapters, in separate statements last year, condemned Tulfo ’s public “castigation” of Bermejo.
They vowed to take legal steps against Tulfo for displaying “grossly unethical journalism in the guise of ‘investigative journalism’.”
The IBP Iloilo chapter headed by Atty. Lorena Gellada-Tubongbanua issued a statement decrying Tulfo’s act of “obstructing the administration of justice which tends to bring the Courts and its officers into disrepute or disrespect.”
The IBP Capiz chapter also came out with a statement joining their colleagues in Iloilo by calling Tulfo’s action against Bermejo “an attack undermining public confidence to the legal profession and the judiciary.”
The groups of lawyers were also backed by the national leadership of the IBP./PN
