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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Dikit and the surname or paternal family name is Tiglao.
Rigoberto Tiglao
Presidential Spokesperson
In office
April 23, 2001[1] – 2002
PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Preceded byRenato Corona
Personal details
Born (1952-08-27) August 27, 1952 (age 72)[2]
Spouse(s)
Raquel Edralin
​
(died 2001)​

Gethsemane Selirio
​
(m. 2002)​
Children3 (with Edralin)
OccupationColumnist

Rigoberto "Bobi" Dikit Tiglao (born August 27, 1952) is a Filipino opinion columnist who works at The Manila Times. A polarizing figure, he has been fact-checked by multiple organizations for spreading false news and disinformation.[3][dubious – discuss]

He previously served as Presidential Spokesperson and Chief of Staff, then ambassador to Cyprus and Greece during the administration of former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was also previously editor-in-chief of Inq7.net, the former website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Career

Tiglao was an activist during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos.[4][5] Tiglao was head of the Manila-Rizal chapter of the Communist Party of the Philippines.[5][6] Tiglao was eventually caught along with his wife Raquel, and detained by Marcos' military forces, first at the 5th Constabulary Security Unit in Camp Crame and then at the Ipil Detention Center in Fort Bonifacio.[7] He and his wife remained in detention for two years and were then let out on house arrest.[8]

He later became a reporter for Business Day from 1981 to 1986. He then served as business editor and columnist at the Manila Chronicle from 1986 to 1989.[9] His chapter on "The Consolidation of Dictatorship" in the 1988 book "Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power"[10] is cited as one of the accounts of precisely how Ferdinand Marcos consolidated power during the early years of his presidency.[11]

In 1989, Tiglao was one of 9 journalists who founded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), an independent nonprofit media agency specializing in investigative reporting.[12] He was the one who first proposed the creation of the PCIJ, getting the idea after visiting the Center for Investigative Reporting in California.[13] and he served as the PCIJ's treasurer in its earliest days, when it operated out of the PhP 1,000 chipped in by each of the founding members, and initial grants from The Asia Foundation and the Ford Foundation.[13]

From 1989 to 2000, he served as the Manila bureau chief and correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He became president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) from 1997-1998.[14]

Tiglao became a columnist at the Philippine Daily Inquirer from 2000 to 2002 and from 2010 to 2013.[9] He was also former editor-in-chief of Inq7.net (now Inquirer.net), the website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.[15]

A year after the death of his first wife Raquel, he accepted the offer of the role of Press Secretary under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - taking over the role from her first Press Secretary, Noel Cabrera, in April 2002. Tiglao subsequently moved on to the roles of Presidential Spokesman, Presidential Chief of Staff, then head of Presidential Management Staff.[16][6]

Explaining his controversial[7] decision to accept the post from Arroyo despite the reactions of his journalist colleagues,[16] he explained his position saying: "My framework has changed. It is not a matter of being an apologist. I've realised that particularly with President Gloria Arroyo, we're out to build a nation,” and "She has a real vision of creating a strong country. She is out to build a real strong state and a strong sense of nationalism. This vision has to be articulated and repeated.”[16]

He was eventually appointed by Pres. Arroyo as the Philippine Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus from 2006 to 2010. During the start of the Benigno Aquino III administration, Overseas Filipino Workers staged a protest in front of the Philippine Embassy in Athens, Greece to demand his removal due to accusations by them of "dismal performance and a lavish lifestyle".[17]

Awards and recognition

Tiglao was awarded the Best News Reporter by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 1983.[14] In 1991, he was awarded Best Economic Journalist for Asia by Mitsubishi Foundation. In 1992, he was named one of the The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for Print Journalism by the Philippine Jaycees.[18]

From 1988 to 1989, he was a Nieman fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.[19] In 2002, he became a fellow for the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at Kyoto University.[20]

Fake news and disinformation

Since the early 2010s, there have been a number of incidents[21][22] where assertions by Tiglao have been refuted as untruthful, "fake news," or "disinformation."[3][23]: 153  Researchers from University of the Philippines illustrated an alleged link between Tiglao and a network spreading pro-Marcos propaganda and disinformation.[24][dubious – discuss] They also noted that some members of the public tend to dismiss fact-checks done by traditional journalists because of people and columnists like Tiglao, who for example tags fact-checkers like Vera Files as "a CIA-funded outfit".[25][dubious – discuss] Governance and foreign policy analyst Steven Feldstein notes how Tiglao, along with RJ Nieto and Sass Rogando Sasot are part of the Philippines' network of digital repression.[26]

  • In August 2012, Tiglao claimed that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was an "obscure law professor", "lackluster academic", and "writer of unremarkable papers" prior to her appointment. Florentino Feliciano, retired senior associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and Alfredo Benipayo, former solicitor general fact checked him. Sereno graduated cum laude and was valedictorian of her class at the University of the Philippines College of Law and was a notable student of John Howard Jackson. She handled at least two major cases in the Philippines: the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 international arbitration case, and the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain establishing the Bangsamoro Judicial Entity in Mindanao. Tiglao also claimed that Sereno was not a co-counsel in the NAIA 3 case and was merely the personal researcher and documentation lawyer of Justice Feliciano. Sereno was in fact and in law, appointed as co-counsel by Solicitor General Benipayo and marshalled evidence critical to the government's cause. Aside from those, Tiglao claimed that New York-based co-counsel Carolyn Lamm objected to the participation and involvement of Sereno, when Lamm was in fact, appreciative of Sereno's contributions.[27][28]
  • In March 2015, Tiglao made the claim that the Jabidah Massacre was the "biggest hoax foisted upon this nation" and that it was a story spun by the Liberal Party in 1968 as a propaganda weapon to fight Ferdinand Marcos's bid for reelection the following year.[29] According to data by the Official Gazette, anywhere from 11 to 68 Moro soldiers were massacred due to their complaints via petition to Malacanang about unreceived stipends and terrible ration and living conditions in their camp. Contrary to Tiglao's statement, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commemorated the 51st anniversary in 2019 of the Jabidah Massacre that led to the creation of the MNLF.[30]
  • In March 2017, Tiglao was called out by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism for claiming that a story they ran on Arthur Lascañas was false and managed by Senator Antonio Trillanes[12]
  • In April 2018, Tiglao falsely claimed that then vice president Leni Robredo had met with German members of the European Parliament to urge them to pass a resolution that called on the Philippines to end extrajudicial killings in the Philippine drug war. After Robredo called him out for spreading false claims about her Germany trip, Robredo stated on Twitter that he e-mailed her office "threatening to print more fake news".[31]
  • Shortly after, Tiglao published a column insinuating that Robredo was having an affair with lawmaker Jorge Banal. Robredo had already addressed this rumor as false in an interview with Karen Davila.[32]
  • Tiglao has repeatedly made the false claim that receiving foreign grants and funds by Philippine media organizations is illegal and against the Constitution of the Philippines. It is not. What is prohibited is foreign ownership and management of media. Article XCI, Section 11 of the Constitution states that: "The ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens." Philippine state-run media entities under the Presidential Communications Group such as PTV-4, the Philippine News Agency, and Radyo ng Bayan receive foreign funding as well, such as from China.[33][34][dubious – discuss][35][3]
  • In April 2019, Tiglao stated that he was "100% certain" that Senator Antonio Trillanes and journalist Ellen Tordesillas were behind the Bikoy video plot, alleging that Tordesillas announced the Bikoy video a day early when Tordesillas posted on April 1 "Kung April Fools' ngayon, anong meron bukas? Abangan." (What's coming tomorrow? Watch out for it). In actuality, Tordesillas's post was a reference to April 2 being International Fact Checking Network day, and Vera Files which Tordesillas is president of is an accredited fact-checker.[34]
  • In September 2020, journalist Ken Kashiwahara fact-checked Tiglao for stating that Ninoy Aquino was not a hero when Aquino's assassination is commemorated in the Philippines as "Ninoy Aquino Day" by law, and he is featured in Philippine currency.[36] Tiglao also stated that Aquino, just before his assassination, filled his flight to the Philippines with media people from "practically every continent" when they came from only two. Furthermore, Tiglao spread the conspiracy theory that it was the CIA who organized and managed Aquino's trip back to the Philippines when it was Aquino and Kashiwahara who did so for months. Kashiwahara stated that President Ronald Reagan was a friend of Ferdinand Marcos and not Aquino and would not have allowed the CIA to assist his friend's foe.[37] Tiglao also spread the lie that Aquino used a Malaysian passport to travel, when it was a fake Filipino one that Aquino used.[38] Finally, Tiglao criticized Western media for not having the "balls" to prevent the military from taking Aquino off the plane just prior to his assassination when it was not journalists' role to do so.[37]
  • In December 2021, Tiglao falsely claimed that former Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had dropped support for Leni Robredo's run for the 2022 Philippine presidential election.[22]
  • In January 2022, Tiglao called for the purging of what he called "red reporters" and red-tagged the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines as a "red front" or sympathizers of rebels and communists. The NUJP called out his action as malicious and irresponsible.[39]
  • In March 2022, Tiglao claimed that The Philippine Star was wrong in reporting that former Vice President Leni Robredo was the most searched presidential candidate during the same time period. Tiglao had used a different data set and methodology than the one used by PhilStar.[40]
  • In May 2022, after being suspended from Facebook for making a post that went against Meta Platforms' community standards on fake news, Tiglao pushed without evidence that communists ("Reds") and Leni Robredo supporters ("Finks" - a reference to Robredo's pink movement campaign) controlled Facebook Philippines and its Philippine fact-checking partners (Vera Files and Rappler). Meta requires that all independent fact-checking partners be certified signatories of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, which has a strong vetting process, including the requirements of being non-partisan, transparency of sources, funding, organization, and an open and honest policy on correcting errors.[21]
  • In May 2022, Tiglao falsely claimed that the Palimbang massacre (also known as the Malisbong Massacre) was a hoax that was invented to get compensation from the Philippines’ Human Rights Violations Reparations Law. At least three government agencies recognize the mass murder of over 1,500 Muslim Moros and other atrocities executed by government troops during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. in Sultan Kudarat on September 24, 1974.[41][dubious – discuss]
  • In September 2022, Tiglao wrote a column against his Manila Times colleague Danton Remoto who recently became news editor, about how Remoto has never been a news reporter or an editor before. Remoto responded that Tiglao does not do research and proceeded to list his credentials as editor at Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Sunday Times Magazine, head of news research at TV5 and Radyo 5, journalism teacher at the Ateneo de Manila University, and dean at the College of Journalism at The Manila Times College. Remoto was also former reporter and editor for the Philippine Press in the 1980s. Tiglao also claimed that Doris Baffrey had passed away when she is still alive.[42]

Reception by other journalists

In April 2002, the late veteran journalist Teddy Benigno recounted how in his opinion as a Catholic Mass Media Awards board of judges member, Tiglao alone deserved the award for reporting in 1983. He also described Tiglao as "a damn good business writer" who proved it by eventually becoming bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review.[14]

In November 2017, at the advice of journalist and former chairperson of the University of the Philippines Department of Journalism Danilo Arao, Bulatlat Managing Editor Benjie Oliveros spoke out against Tiglao, stating that Tiglao practices a combination of fake news and irresponsible journalism in his Manila Times column and that Tiglao had maliciously resorted to slandering journalists and media outfits. Tiglao had red-tagged Bulatlat as being run by "Communist party propaganda cadres" and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) of receiving funds from the CIA. Oliveros then stated that Tiglao had been "lying through his teeth and slandering people and media outfits while claiming and boasting that he is a journalist", and that Tiglao was what he accused other people of being: "a liar and a propagandist".[43]

Tiglao was called "sloppy" in April 2018 by investigative journalist Raissa Robles for getting facts wrong, such as calling SCL Group "a sister company of Cambridge Analytica" when it was the parent company.[44]

In June 2018, journalist and News5 chief correspondent Ed Lingao had these to say about Tiglao: "Mabuhay ang mga propagandist at spinmaster!" (Long live propagandists and spinmasters!) and "Of course, you have had your time, and you were good during your time as a journalist. But you can't lean on what you did two decades ago to make up for your current propaganda work" after Tiglao called other journalists cry-baby millenials and old mediocre reporters after they recounted threats sent to them.[45]

in May 2019, according to journalist, PCIJ co-founder and former executive director, and former academic dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Sheila Coronel, Tiglao had "morphed from being a fact-based journalist to an intellectual apologist for a clampdown on our hard-won freedoms". Tiglao, in Manila Times columns advocated for the closure of journalistic organizations like PCIJ, CMFR, Vera Files, and Rappler for receiving foreign funding, as well as the jailing of their staff.[13] While the Philippine Constitution forbids foreign ownership and management of media, and there are no prohibitions on receiving foreign grants.[34]

Furthermore, Coronel labeled Tiglao's rhetoric as straight from Russian president Vladimir Putin's playbook, which "softens the ground for a clampdown on the press and civil society" and is "aimed at crushing critical voices and silencing civil society". Russia passed a law in 2012 that branded certain NGOs as foreign agents for receiving funding, and passed a law in 2015 that allowed the Russian government to close foreign-funded groups that it deemed undesirable. According to Coronel, this playbook has been used in other countries including Hungary and Brazil, and that Tiglao wants it implemented in the Philippines.[13]

In March 2022, of Tiglao's writings, columnist and social anthropologist Antonio Montalvan II states: "he conjures up his conspiracy theories and repeats them over and over again like Joseph Goebbels".[3]

Personal life

Tiglao was first married to Raquel "Rock" Edralin, a women's rights advocate. He had three children with her. He became a widower when Edralin died of breast cancer in February 2001.[8] His second wife is Gethsemane "Getsy" Selirio on April 13, 2002 who was editor in chief of Inq-7.[46]

Published books

  • Colossal Deception: How Foreigners Control Our Telecoms Sector (2016)
  • Debunked: Uncovering Hard Truths about EDSA, Martial Law, Marcos, Aquino, with a special section on the Duterte Presidency (2019)
  • Debacle: The Aquino Regime's Scarborough Fiasco and the South China Sea Arbitration Deception (2022)

See also

References

  1. ^ "GMA to Tiglao: Substance, not glitz, please". The Philippine Star. 21 April 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Curriculum Vitae". Rigoberto Tiglao. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Montalvan II, Antonio J. (March 20, 2022). "The omnipresent lies of Rigoberto Tiglao". Vera Files.
  4. ^ Rodis, Rodel (January 30, 2015). "Remembering the First Quarter Storm". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  5. ^ a b Rimban, Luz (2004). "The X-Men: The story of activists-turned-political consultants". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
  6. ^ a b "From guts to Gloria". Philippine Daily Inquirer. September 1, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Mariano, Danilo Luis M. "Forty Years Ago -- Film&Theater: Here Lies Love". davidbyrne.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  8. ^ a b "EDRALIN-TIGLAO, Raquel". Bantayog ng mga Bayani. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Seares: 'Unpatriotic' journalists: Tiglao blasts 'false' writings abroad". SunStar. November 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Dictatorship and revolution: roots of people's power (1st ed.). Manila: Conspectus. 1988. ISBN 9919108018. OCLC 1123806672. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ Sanchez, Phoebe Zoe Maria U. (2017). "Cebu's Subnational Politics: A Survey of Philippine Political Structure and Culture". GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences. 6 (1). doi:10.5176/2251-2853_6.1.202.
  12. ^ a b "PCIJ comment on Tiglao's column". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. March 3, 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d Coronel, Sheila (May 2, 2019). "Just the Facts: Foreign Funding Isn't the Problem". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
  14. ^ a b c Benigno, Teodoro (April 17, 2002). "Why Tiglao resigned". Philippine Star.
  15. ^ "Editors' Note". Philippine Daily Inquirer. January 17, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c Dacanay, Barbara Mae (November 23, 2002). "Newsmaker: Tiglao enjoys his role as secretary". Gulf News.
  17. ^ Abella, Jerrie (October 12, 2010). "Pinoy protesters in Greece demand ouster of envoy". GMA News Online.
  18. ^ "List of TOYM Awardees 1959-2008". Official Ten Outstanding Young Men Philippines blog. July 14, 2009.
  19. ^ "List of Alumni by Class Year". Nieman Foundation. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  20. ^ "過去のセミナー案内：14年度（2002年9月）". Kyoto University.
  21. ^ a b "Facebook Philippines, kontrolado raw ng fact-checkers?". Tsek.ph. June 1, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Sarmiento, Bong S. (December 20, 2021). "FACT CHECK Former foreign secretary del Rosario not leaving Robredo's presidential bid". MindaNews.
  23. ^ Feldstein, Steven (2021). The rise of digital repression : how technology is reshaping power, politics, and resistance. New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-19-005751-0. OCLC 1249693866.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. ^ Berdos, Enrico (December 11, 2020). "Propaganda web: Pro-Marcos literature, sites, and online disinformation linked". Vera Files.
  25. ^ Berdos, Enrico (December 18, 2021). "VERA FILES FACT CHECK YEARENDER: Marcos Jr.'s presidential bid props up pro-Marcos propaganda". Vera Files.
  26. ^ Feldstein, Steven (May 2021). The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190057497. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  27. ^ Tiglao, Rigoberto (August 30, 2012). "Sereno lied on her track record".
  28. ^ Feliciano, Florentino; Benipayo, Alfredo (September 8, 2012). "Factual response to Tiglao column". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  29. ^ Rigoberto D. Tiglao (March 22, 2015). "'Jabidah' was a big hoax". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016.
  30. ^ "Hoax daw ang pagpatay sa mga sundalong Moro sa "Jabidah Massacre"?". Tsek.ph. 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  31. ^ "Robredo hits Tiglao for 'fake news' about Germany trip". Rappler. April 24, 2018.
  32. ^ Morallo, Audrey (May 21, 2018). "Robredo slams columnist for spreading rumors". Philippine Star.
  33. ^ "China gives 400 transistor radios to Philippines". Update Philippines. Philippine News Agency. February 27, 2017.
  34. ^ a b c Tordesillas, Ellen (April 29, 2019). "Ipe Salvosa and Bobi Tiglao". Vera Files.
  35. ^ Coronel, Shiela S. (May 2, 2019). "Just the Facts: Foreign funding isn't the problem". Rappler.
  36. ^ "Ninoy Aquino". Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  37. ^ a b Kashiwahara, Ken (September 5, 2020). "On Tiglao's Ninoy column". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04.
  38. ^ Malasig, Jeline (August 22, 2022). "Fact check: Ninoy Aquino died a Malaysian citizen?". Interaksyon.
  39. ^ Umil, Anne Marxze D. (January 24, 2022). "NUJP calls out Tiglao's 'malicious, irresponsible' red-tagging of journalists". Bulatlat.
  40. ^ "Tiglao falsely claims Philstar 'wrong' on Robredo topping Google search". Tsek.Ph. March 30, 2022.
  41. ^ "VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Columnist Tiglao falsely claims Palimbang massacre is 'fake'". vera Files. May 12, 2022.
  42. ^ "Fau pas". The Daily Tribune. September 25, 2022.
  43. ^ Oliveros, Benjie (November 23, 2017). "Which is worse: fake news or irresponsible journalism?". Bulatlat.
  44. ^ Robles, Raissa (April 25, 2018). "Letter to a certain Tiglao".
  45. ^ Manglinong, Dan (June 16, 2018). "Lacson answers Tiglao on criticism of new P4.5-billion Senate building". Interaksyon.
  46. ^ "Press secretary marries long-time girlfriend". Gulf News. 14 April 2002. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
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