Robredo orders probe on Baac, bodyguards: Kalinga gov faces charges for ‘attacking’ broadcaster

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Philippine National Police and Department of Interior and Local Government have started an “in-depth” investigation on Gov. Jocel Baac and his bodyguards, who were caught on video harassing a broadcaster inside the announcer’s booth of a government-run radio station here June 7.

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered the probe Thursday even as he asked police to provide security to Jerome Tabanganay, anchor of dzRK-Radyo ng Bayan’s “Agenda ng Bayan” program, and his family.

“The acts of the governor are tantamount to conduct unbecoming of a public official, abuse of power and discretion. He should have been more prudent and patient under such circumstances, taking into account that the radio program was live on air. We cannot tolerate such a behavior of a local government official,” he said.

Robredo ordered PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo and Chief Supt. Villamor Bumanglag, Cordillera Administrative Region police director, to initiate the probe.

Baac said he welcomes any investigation and charges that may be filed against him so he can formally answer the allegations.

This, after Tabanganay said he is determined to file criminal and administrative complaints against the governor.

In Baguio City Friday, Kalinga Provincial Legal Officer Christian Wandag told a press conference Baac denied the charges. (See page 4 Behind the Scenes column by Alfred Dizon for full text of Baac’s purported statement on the matter. The governor’s name was printed in the statement but unsigned. Copies of Baac’s “statement” were distributed to the media by a companion of Wandag.)

Among others, Wandag said the incident would not generate into a full-blown tribal war. Tabanganay belongs to the Naneng Tribe while Baac is with the Tuyot Tribe.

(Among some Kalinga tribes, disputes over murder, honor, rape violence among others have ignited tribal wars. Concerned provincial constituents are now trying to find means to stop these and settle grievances peacefully through indigenous system called bodong or peace pact.)

Different media groups have assailed Baac for the incident but the governor said he was inviting media groups to go to Kalinga and “have a free hand to conduct (their) own investigation on what transpired.”

Robredo said Bacalzo and Bumanglag should submit to his office the results of their probe and corresponding recommendations against Baac and his bodyguards within 72 hours.

Robredo said the probe should determine if the attack against Tabanganay was prompted by the broadcaster’s frequent attacks on the governor’s alleged involvement in jueteng and illegal logging in Kalinga.

Herman Basbano, national chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, Thursday condemned the incident, describing it as “proof of barbarism in today’s society” and “proof of curtailment of press freedom.”

In a statement June 9, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. asked Robredo to initiate steps to make Baac “accountable for his disruptive behavior.”

At around 12:55 p.m. last Tuesday, Baac and his security guards reportedly forcibly entered the dzRK compound and confronted Tabanganay inside the announcer’s booth.

The governor allegedly grabbed a microphone, hit a table, and then grabbed another microphone and struck Tabanganay with it.

Bumanglag said his men in Kalinga were doing everything to expedite the filing of cases against Baac.

Baac, who earlier kept mum about the incident, allegedly threatened to kill broadcaster Tabanganay if he would not stop criticizing him.

The broadcaster said Baac stormed into the announcer’s booth with fully armed bodyguards as he was ending his “Agenda II” radio program.

Baac allegedly grabbed the guest’s microphone and smashed it on Tabanganay’s forehead, saying, “Sobra kan (You are already too much).”

Policemen detailed at the radio station following a failed arson try there last May 24, pacified the governor.

Before he left, Baac reportedly said, “Agsao ka pay ta patayen ka (You talk more and I will kill you).”

In protest, dzRK-Tabuk has gone off air since Tuesday afternoon to demonstrate its condemnation.

The management of dzRK-Tabuk summoned manager Basilio Baluyan to a meeting in Manila for the filing of charges against Baac.

A day before the incident on June 6, Baluyan was reportedly also berated by Baac during the government-initiated “Kapihan sa Kapitol” forum.

This after the May 24 attempt to burn down the radio station drew “international and national attention.”

Baac said the international furor over the incident would negatively impact on the image of the province.

The Kalinga Media Club and Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club condemned the incident, saying Baac’s action was uncalled for.

A national media group described the incident as a stark example of the daily threats provincial journalists are facing.

Tabanganay, who survived a slay attempt right at the radio station in September last year, appealed to authorities to help him in his quest for justice over the incident saying, “It will also be a quest against impunity.”

Last May 24, men believed to be employed by jueteng operators tried to burn the radio station by lobbing Molotov cocktails in one of its rooms, but alert security guards foiled the arson attempt.

After the attack on dzRK-Tabuk, jueteng operations stopped and have not resumed since then. – With reports from Charlie Lagasca