Controversial radio and print journalist Ramon “Mon” Tulfo and his editors at the daily broadsheet the Philippine Daily Inquirer were detained yesterday at the Makati Police Station.
Tulfo had his fingerprints and mug shot taken, as well as those of Inquirer‘s executive editor Jose Maria Nolasco, opinion editor Rosario “Chato” Garcellano, and associate editor Pergentino Bandayrel Jr.
This was in connection with the libel case filed against them by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a 103-year-old local religious group headquartered in Quezon City.
According to Tulfo’s Facebook post, he and his editors were detained from 11am to 5:30pm. He described the experience as “all in a day’s work.”
Tulfo wrote that the libel case stems from an article he wrote in his column called “On Target.”
He wrote on Facebook, “On March 4, 2017, I wrote in my column, On Target, that the Iglesia ni Cristo’s compound in Quezon City was raided by the police which confiscated many firearms. I said that the compound, which was equivalent to the Catholic Church’s Vatican, was considered ‘holy ground’ by the sect.”
The raid that Tulfo referred to was the incident where the Quezon City Police District seized over 70 firearms from the INC’s compound in Quezon City in 2017.
According to Inquirer, the items were taken from an “abandoned building” within the area.
Wrote Tulfo, “Now, here’s the clincher that got the ire of the INC: ‘By the way, why does the INC, which preaches love, maintain a large armory and a private army?’
“Over 90 libel cases throughout the country were filed by the INC against me and my editors as a result of the above column item. The cases were filed in towns and cities where there are INC churches, called kapilya. That means practically [all kapilya are included] from [the northernmost island of] Batanes to Tawi-Tawi [in the south].
“Many of the over the 90 cases were dismissed by the various prosecutor’s (formerly fiscal’s) offices. In short, those prosecutor’s offices which dismissed the case thought my statement did not constitute libel.”
However, Tulfo wrote that three cases were filed in the courts of Tagum, Davao del Norte; Dasmariñas, Cavite; and Bacoor, Cavite.
Wrote Tulfo, “More libel cases for the same column item are expected to be filed in court in other places.”
Through its lawyers, Inquirer had asked the then-secretary of Department of Justice (DOJ) Vitaliano Aguirre to consolidate all of the libel cases against them in Manila.
However, wrote Tulfo, “Aguirre, apparently entertaining political ambitions, did not grant the Inquirer[‘s] request for the cases to be consolidated into one, single charge at the DOJ main office.”
While the incident may spook other people (Tulfo wrote that Garcellano was “on the verge of tears”), Tulfo was all smiles in the photo he posted on Facebook, where he proudly showed off his ink-stained hands to the camera.
Below is Tulfo’s Facebook post:
Tulfo’s fans are supportive of the embattled columnist.
Wrote Rupert Sales: “Fight sir.”
Another fan, presumably a journalist, Felix Mediavillo wrote: “Go on, Mon, no libel case kills a journalist. I had 7 such cases before, and I am still kicking thought no longer of a horse, hehehe.”
Tulfo is part of the Tulfo family that was recently involved in a controversy with the Department of Tourism (DOT).
His sister Wanda Teo quit her post as the department’s secretary after it was found that the DOT had placed PHP60 million (US$1.2 million) worth of ads on the PTV-4 show Kilos Pronto produced by their brother Ben Tulfo.
