Malaya columnist gets death threat via email

A newspaper columnist critical of the Arroyo government has received a death threat via email warning her that her criticism of the regime may cost her her life. Ellen Tordesillas, who writes for the daily newspaper Malaya and the daily tabloid Abante, found the emailed death threat when she checked her inbox on September 30, 2007. The email was time-stamped 3:53 AM of the same day and was sent by a certain "alfred cruz" using the email addresss pinoy_at_pinay@yahoo.com. The message, which was set entirely in boldface, read: "mag-ingat ka sa pag labas labas mo dahil ipadudukot kita, at para matigil na ang salbahe mong bunganga pakakainin kita ng barbed wire at ipalulunok ko sa iyo ng buong buo, tapos ipapako kita sa krus at ipapalupot ko sa buong katawan mo ang sinasabi mong barbed wire, p... a mo hindi ka na nakatutuwa sa mga ginagawa mong pang aasar sa gobyerno!!! baka pati kasamahan mo ngayon sa bahay madamay.....p... a mo !!!! ingat ka lang !!!" Tordesillas believes that the threat was in reaction to a column she wrote for Abante on September 30, 2007, titled "Utak barbed-wire," where she criticized the Philippine president for condemning the situation in Myanmar when, according to Tordesillas, activists who criticize the Arroyo government are killed by the military. Tordesillas said that she has no idea who may have sent the message, but she has already reported the incident to the National Bureau of Investigation. Tordesillas said the threat has not affected her work as a journalist. Tordesillas also received a death threat through email on November 2006 which asked what type of death she prefers and which said that she was too brave for her own good. - Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility