Veteran journalist Philip Lustre Jr. was released on P48,000 bail Saturday night, Oct. 24, after being arrested and handcuffed over a cyberlibel case he said he knew nothing about.
Human rights lawyer Dino de Leon of Dargon Law, who took up Lustre’s defense, said the ordeal of the 72-year-old journalist showed why the country must confront abuses that he said continued beyond the Duterte presidency.
“Philip is free, but what happened to him must not be forgotten. A 72-year-old journalist was handcuffed and detained over a complaint he had never been given the chance to see before and answer,” de Leon said.
Lustre was arrested on October 24 shortly after attending the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant on Scout Borromeo Street in Quezon City. Officers from the Quezon City Police District’s Kamuning Station 10 served a cyberlibel warrant issued by Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 10.
Police approached Lustre at about 11:10 a.m., surprising reporters and forum moderators. The warrant had been issued on October 2 by Judge Retrina Fuentes of RTC Davao City.
After an officer read the warrant, Lustre was handcuffed and escorted to a police vehicle outside the restaurant.
De Leon was a guest at the forum when the arrest happened and Lustre asked for his assistance to represent him. He obliged on the spot.
Police read Lustre his Miranda rights, and the journalist later underwent a medical examination. His defense worked to secure the documents needed for bail, a task complicated by the fact that it was a weekend and there was a need to obtain certified records from the court in Davao.
De Leon also sought humanitarian consideration because of Lustre’s age.
“For a senior citizen, that is an ordeal. For every journalist watching, it is a warning,” he said.
“Big corporations like GMA-7 or ordinary citizens like Lustre, idedemanda kayo ng mga Duterte. Tatakutin kayo. Ganyan ang mensahe ng mga Duterte. At kung makakabalik sila sa pwesto, candidate kayo para i-tokhang, kagaya ng ginawa nila sa 67 na abogado, mga journalists, at mga human rights workers nung panahon ni Rodrigo Duterte” de Leon emphasized.
Lustre maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the complaint. De Leon said the defense would seek the reopening of the preliminary investigation so the journalist could answer the accusation.
He also questioned the Saturday arrest, when securing court records and arranging bail could be more difficult.
“The authorities must explain the process, and we will examine the records. If anyone used the law to harass or needlessly keep an elderly journalist in detention, that person must answer for it,” he said.
Lustre is a longtime critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the author of Kill, Kill, Kill, a book examining extrajudicial killings associated with the Duterte administration’s drug war.
De Leon said the incident strengthened his call to confront what he described as the surviving culture of intimidation from the Duterte administration.
“This is the crossroads I have been telling people about. Either we hold the Dutertes accountable and secure convictions where the evidence warrants, or we allow them to regain the power that can help them escape justice,” he said.
“We cannot keep saying the Duterte years are over while the methods that spread fear remain. Clearly, their entrenched networks can still be used for something this sinister while they no longer control the presidency, what more if they regain it?” De Leon said.
The lawyer also challenged Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to conduct a thorough cleansing of law enforcement agencies through investigations, the removal of abusive personnel through lawful proceedings, and prosecution where evidence supports criminal charges.
“We need to remove the practices that allowed abuse to thrive during those six years. Identify those responsible. Investigate them. File the proper cases. Stop protecting them,” he said.
“The badge belongs to the Filipino people. It must never serve as a weapon for a political family like the Dutertes,” de Leon said.
