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MANILA, Philippines – The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Thursday, July 25, denounced the threatening text message sent to ABS-CBN senior reporter Ces Oreña-Drilon on Wednesday night, July 24.
In a statement, NUJP also commended Drilon for making the threat public and urged fellow journalists to do the same.
“Very often, publicizing threats makes the cowards responsible — and yes, they are by and large cowards — back off,” NUJP said.
On Wednesday night, Drilon posted the following tweet:
After airing a story on Ampatuan lawyer Atty Arnel Manaloto's tax evasion case, I get this text. pic.twitter.com/TXjZvMNCyl
— Cecilia Orena-Drilon (@cesdrilon) July 24, 2013
Drilon’s report quoted a source alleging that Andal Ampatuan Jr, one of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre, used his lawyer Arnel Manaloto as a dummy owner for 8 of his properties in Davao City.
Although NUJP recognized that such threats are “par for the course” for members of the media, they said “the nature of the report and the fact that the message was sent to her personal mobile number” indicate that it was meant to warn her against pursuing the story further.
The Ampatuans are the principal suspects in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre in November 2009 that killed 58 people, among them journalists and media workers. – Angela Casauay/Rappler.com
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