MANILA, Philippines – GMA 7 journalist Atom Araullo won his civil suit against his red-taggers, scoring a game changing lower court win that could benefit other victims of red-tagging.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 ordered SMNI hosts Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz to pay Araullo P2.080 million in damages and lawyers’ fees to compensate for  “the red-tagging and its effects on his personal life and on his career as a journalist,” Judge Dolly-Rose Bolante Prado said in her decision dated December 12, and released to media Friday, December 13.

“I am elated by the court’s ruling. Above all, this case opens up a legal option for anyone who has been a victim of red-tagging and harmful disinformation, particularly journalists. It is not ok to be attacked or harassed simply for doing our jobs,” Araullo said in a statement.

The case is a game changer because it is the first known application of a Supreme Court (SC) decision publicized only last May that finally defined red-tagging as a threat to one’s constitutional right to life, liberty and security.

In her 27-page decision, the judge took SC’s definition and said that Badoy and Celiz “deliberately sought to discredit and inflict harm” on Araullo.

Before this, red-tagging victims had no recourse to legal relief because there is no law that penalizes, much less defines, red-tagging.

Araullo is one among many others, including former lawmakers and fellow journalists, who tried the civil route, believing that filing a criminal libel suit would add to the weaponization of such law that had been used against journalists before.

“This case also shows how one can seek redress for defamation without resorting to criminal libel, an archaic and anachronistic law that has been often used to silence critical reporting, criticism and dissent,” said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in a statement.

The QC court also explicitly said that red-tagging is “inherently malicious.” Malice is an element of criminal libel, but Article 33 of the Civil Code allows a separate and distinct civil action for defamation.

In determining whether red-tagging was malicious, the judge said that “an act that threatens fundamental rights inherently carries malice.”

“Even if the plaintiff is a public figure, there is no need for him to prove actual malice. The burden of proof falls on the defendants, who are the accusers, not on the plaintiff, the one being accused. The plaintiff, a victim of red-tagging, should not be burdened with the duty of proving malice,” said the court.

The court also said that “red-tagging violated the plaintiff’s right to peace of mind,” or a violation of Article 26 that protects a person’s dignity, personality, privacy and peace of mind.

Red-tagging, according to the court, “constitutes an abuse of right under Article 19,” a provision that says every person must act with justice, and give everyone his due, observe honesty and good faith. 

“May it also serve as a warning to red-taggers that the media community can, has, and will hold you accountable in as many venues are available,” said the NUJP.

Badoy and Celiz repeatedly linked Araullo and his mother Carol to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF). 

“These labels and remarks went beyond mere editorial opinion or fair commentary and, worse, incited backlash, threats and public hatred toward the plaintiff,” the judge said.

Badoy, a former communications undersecretary during the Duterte administration and ex-spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, has a history of accusing individuals, including opposition figures, of links to the communist movement. She now co-hosts the SMNI show Laban Kasama Ng Bayan with Celiz. (READ: Gov’t platforms being used to attack, red-tag media)

SMNI is owned by preacher and US fugitive Apollo Quiboloy. – with reports from James Patrick Cruz and Iya Gozum/Rappler.com