PCO exec Claire Castro reports alleged grave threats by FB page to NBI

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro on Tuesday reported to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) a Facebook post that she said implied violence against her if she is abandoned by her allies.

Castro cited a January 2 post by the Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan page on Facebook, which stated that if she is dropped by her “humans,” only her appendix and coccyx will not be damaged as a result of what she has been doing.

Cruz-Angeles and Panglinawan quickly responded to Castro’s act of reporting their Facebook page, calling it an attempt to suppress speech and expression.

After reporting the Facebook page to the NBI, Castro – herself a lawyer – said she was afraid upon reading the post, dubbing it as “grave threats.”

“Kasi sabihin na appendix mo lang ang walang latay, iba ang ibig sabihin noon. Meron itong pagbabanta sa iyong buhay. So ‘yun ang naramdaman ko. At up to now, ayun pa rin ang nararamdaman ko kaya kailangan ko na mag report,” she said.

(Because to say that only your appendix has no bruises means something else. It carries a threat to your life. That is what I felt. And up to now, that is still what I feel, which is why I need to make a report.)

Castro said she wanted to report the matter so that authorities will have a lead on who to investigate should anything happen to her.

She added that while everyone has the freedom of expression, this does not justify making threats to one’s life.

“Hindi kinakailangan na kung ikaw man ay nag o-oppose sa sinabi ng isang tao, eh ikaw ay mag banta na sa buhay niya. Hindi po nadadaanan ang ano mang diskurso sa pag babanta sa buhay, ‘yung pagiging biolente,” Castro said.

(It is not necessary that if you oppose what someone says, you already threaten their life. No discourse should pass through threats to life or violence.)

“’Wag nila gayahin ang mga idolo nila (they should not imitate their idol),” she added.

Meanwhile, Cruz-Angeles and Paglinawan said Castro’s act of reporting their Facebook page to the NBI is an attempt at suppressing free speech and expression.

In a statement posted on their Facebook page, the two lawyers said Castro has been called many things in other posts but she never reported them.

“The writers on this page however, have written many times about the failing of the current administration, with Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles even speaking out in public fora,” the statement said.

“By making this report and publicizing it to the full extent that the resources of PCO can, she intends an unmistakable chilling effect on others who post their opinions and criticism of Public Officials in the exercise of their official functions on social media,” it added. — JMA, GMA Integrated News