MANILA, Philippines — Former press secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles and lawyer Ahmed Paglinawan on Tuesday hit back at Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro after the Palace official filed a case before them before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
In a statement posted on their “Luminous” page, they said that it was an “attempt to suppress speech and expression that is critical of the Marcos administration.”
“Ms. Castro has been called many things in other posts in other platforms, yet she never felt compelled to ‘report’ any of them to the NBI. 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,” writers of the page 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. No surprise there. She is the very reason why our Constitution protects free speech and expression,” they added.
Paglinawan added that he did not believe that Castro was “scared” because of his post and that he was not buying anything regarding the NBI report.
