Threats vs Vitug a publicity stunt - SC spokesman

The spokesman of the Supreme Court has dismissed the supposed threats against online editor Marites Vitug as publicity stunts for her book, “Shadow of Doubt," which is critical of the court. “I really find it ridiculous to take these allegations [in the book] so seriously as to threaten the author. Let’s try to stop using the court for some purposes which are not really right," said lawyer Midas Marquez at a press briefing Wednesday. He later described as “funny" Vitug’s claim that someone from the court had sent her threatening text messages. “I really find it funny that there is a death threat." Marquez said that if these threats were genuine, Vitug should have gone to the police to report the incident.

Vitug, editor of the online news agency Newsbreak, had claimed that the threats came after the launching of “Shadow of Doubt," which critiqued the inner workings of the SC and discussed how some decisions were reached by justices. Vitug said she has no idea who sent the text messages, but added that they could have come from somebody from the court who was affected by the disclosures in her book. She said she had already reported the threats to the police, but since the sender used a pre-paid SIM card, it was hard to identify the person. “I don’t want to make a big thing out of the threat. All I want is to make it public because that is the best protection," Vitug said in a separate interview. Two international media watchdog groups – the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists – have already called on the Philippine government to conduct a full investigation of the threats against Vitug. The IFJ last year said the Philippines has become the most dangerous place for journalists in the world following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. Thirty-two of the victims were media practitioners. Blamed for the massacre were members of the powerful Ampatuan political family. - KBK, GMANews.TV