ILOILO CITY – The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has urged the Presidential Task Force on Media Security to investigate the threats made by Mayor Jerry Treñas here against reporters.
MAYOR Jerry Treñas is visibly angry in a May 20 press conference where he threatened to file libel cases against the media for asking questions pertaining to the total demolition of a heritage market. (Arnold Almacen/CMO)
The NUJP aired the call in a May 23 statement that addressed the threats not only made by Treñas but also by Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation Larry Gadon.
Treñas threatened to sue journalists for libel as part of the continuing reports on the controversial demolition of the Iloilo Central Market, a presumed important cultural property (ICP), in this city.
He was fuming mad and hurling profane words during a live press conference last Monday, May 20.
Treñas was asked for his reaction on comments made by Dr. Ivan Anthony Henares, commissioner for Cultural Heritage of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), during a May 18 public forum that the controversial demolition of the Central Market was being probed.
The Iloilo City mayor slammed the table with his fist while echoing Henares in accusing Daily Guardian and Panay News of “irresponsible reporting.”
Henares, who was introduced during the public forum as the secretary-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization National Commission of the Philippines, denied that UNESCO was investigating or looking into the matter.
The Daily Guardian and Panay News would later clarify the reports that cited UNESCO but Treñas escalated his threats by announcing twice in the same press conference that libel cases can be filed.
“There are avenues for public officials and the public to seek clarifications and corrections to stories but threatening journalists with libel cases and arson should not be among them,” the NUJP said.
“Claiming to have been misquoted as an excuse for being inarticulate is a relic of the Duterte administration that should be left there,” the NUJP added.
The Treñas administration in the past month vehemently denied accusations that the demolition did not undergo proper process.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. has a 25-year lease agreement with the Iloilo City government in redeveloping two public markets, including the Central Market.
Treñas had earlier filed cyber libel complaints against Nereo Lujan, a former journalist and the chief information officer of the Iloilo provincial government.
Lujan is one of the vocal critics of Treñas in the demolition of the Central Market and the Iloilo City mayor claimed that Lujan has been bullying him and his family for a very long time on Facebook. It was unclear what specific Facebook posts Lujan is facing cyber libel complaints.