Atom Araullo wins P2 million damage case vs. red-taggers Lorraine Badoy, Jeffrey Celiz

Atom Araullo won the P2 million damage suit he filed against two SMNI hosts, Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz, for red tagging.

The Movement Against Disinformation, whose counsels represented Araullo in the case, announced in a Facebook post on Friday, Dec. 13 that the broadcast journalist won, with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court finding that "the defendants' statements about him constituted red-tagging."

The court ordered Badoy and Celiz to pay Araullo total of P2,080,000 in damages.

Araullo also reposted the update on the case on his X account later in the day.

Araullo filed the damage suit against Badoy and Celiz in September 2023. At the time, he said he submitted the civil complaint for damages against them in line with a "series of unsubstantiated accusations and personal attacks" the pair made against him and his family "through their programming on SMNI and on various social media platforms."

"It is my considered belief that the nature of their remarks goes far beyond the boundaries of fair criticism, and are designed to discredit, intimidate, and foment public animosity towards both me and my family. It also seems to be part of a broader pattern to harass and undermine members of the media whose reporting does not fit their agenda," he said in a statement on Dec. 11.

While he initially opted to "ignore their attacks owing to their apparent absurdity," Araullo explained that he has seen "how treacherous, persuasive, and harmful disinformation can be, especially when left unchecked."

"I am doing this for the safety and well-being of my family, but I also hope it contributes in a modest way to protecting press freedom in general," he continued.

Araullo clarified he did not file a criminal case against the two SMNI hosts as he is "against the criminalization of libel and would prefer not to invoke it because it also endangers legitimate journalism."

"Still, malicious perpetrators of disinformation must be stopped and held accountable. This is a unique challenge of our time, especially for journalists who are duty-bound to uphold the truth," he concluded.

He did not specify the red-tagging incidents in his statement, though in July 2023, Badoy on SMNI gave a shout-out to Araullo's mother Carol, rhetorically asking why she doesn't recruit her son into the New Peoples Army. Carol in the same month filed a complaint against Badoy. In 2020, the NTF-ELCAC red-tagged the broadcast journalist for his documentary about a Lumad school.