Rigoberto Tiglao

Last updated
Raquel Edralin
(died 2001)

Gethsemane Selirio
(m. 2002)
Rigoberto Tiglao
Presidential Spokesperson
In office
April 23, 2001 [1]  2002
Children3 (with Edralin)
OccupationColumnist

Rigoberto "Bobi" Dikit Tiglao (born August 27, 1952) is a Filipino activist and opinion columnist.

Contents

He was previously editor-in-chief of Inq7.net, a website jointly owned by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network before resigning his post to serve as Presidential Spokesperson and Chief of Staff (and later ambassador to Cyprus and Greece) during the administration of former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He now works as an opinion columnist for the Manila Times. A number of his claims have been fact-checked by multiple organizations. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Career

Activism

Tiglao was an activist during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. [7] [8] Tiglao was head of the Manila-Rizal chapter of the Communist Party of the Philippines. [8] [9] Tiglao was eventually caught along with his wife Raquel, and detained by Marcos' military forces, first at the 5th Constabulary Security Unit in Camp Crame and then at the Ipil Detention Center in Fort Bonifacio. [10] He and his wife remained in detention for two years and were then let out on house arrest. [11]

Journalism

He later became a reporter for Business Day from 1981 to 1986. He then served as business editor and columnist at the Manila Chronicle from 1986 to 1989. [12]

In 1989, Tiglao was one of 9 journalists who founded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), an independent nonprofit media agency specializing in investigative reporting. [13] He was the one who first proposed the creation of the PCIJ, writing a paper on this during his fellowship in 1988 at the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and getting the idea after visiting the Center for Investigative Reporting in California. [14] and he served as the PCIJ's treasurer in its earliest days, when it operated out of the PhP 1,000 chipped in by each of the founding members, and initial grants from The Asia Foundation and the Ford Foundation. [14]

From 1989 to 2000, he served as the Manila bureau chief and correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He became president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) from 1997 to 1998. [15]

Tiglao became a columnist at the Philippine Daily Inquirer from 2000 to 2002 and from 2010 to 2013. [12] He was also former editor-in-chief of Inq7.net (now Inquirer.net), the website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. [16]

Government

A year after the death of his first wife Raquel, he accepted the offer of the role of Press Secretary under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - taking over the role from her first Press Secretary, Noel Cabrera, in April 2002. Tiglao subsequently moved on to the roles of Presidential Spokesman, Presidential Chief of Staff, then head of Presidential Management Staff. [17] [9]

Following his appointment as press secretary, Tiglao has shifted his views from centre-left to centre-right. Explaining his controversial [10] decision to accept the post from Arroyo despite the reactions of his journalist colleagues, [17] he explained his position saying: "My framework has changed. It is not a matter of being an apologist. I've realized that particularly with President Gloria Arroyo, we're out to build a nation,” and "She has a real vision of creating a strong country. She is out to build a real strong state and a strong sense of nationalism. This vision has to be articulated and repeated. [17]

He was eventually appointed by Pres. Arroyo as the Philippine Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus from 2006 to 2010. During the start of the Benigno Aquino III administration, Overseas Filipino Workers staged a protest in front of the Philippine Embassy in Athens, Greece to demand his removal due to accusations by them of "dismal performance and a lavish lifestyle". Tiglao declined to comment, stating that the matter was sensitive, and that he was on leave. [18]

Return to journalism

In January 2013, Tiglao began writing for the Manila Times . During his work for the paper, his articles would be flagged by fact-checking bodies as false, a trend which would become increasingly notorious from time to time.

Awards and recognition

Tiglao was awarded the Best News Reporter by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 1983. [15] In 1991, he was awarded Best Economic Journalist for Asia by Mitsubishi Foundation. In 1992, he was named one of The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for Print Journalism by the Philippine Jaycees. [19]

From 1988 to 1989, he was a Nieman fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. [20] In 2002, he became a fellow for the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at Kyoto University. [21]

Controversies and fact-checks

Since the early 2010s, there have been incidents where assertions by Tiglao have generated controversy, have been refuted, and some fact-checked. [3] [4] [6] Governance and foreign policy analyst Steven Feldstein notes how Tiglao, along with RJ Nieto and Sass Rogando Sasot are part of the Philippines' network of digital repression. [5] :153 They also noted that some members of the public tend to dismiss fact-checks done by accredited journalists thanks to unverified claims from people and columnists like Tiglao, who has for example accused fact-checking organization Vera Files of being "a CIA-funded outfit." [22]

Personal life

Tiglao was first married to Raquel "Rock" Edralin, a women's rights advocate. He had three children with her. He became a widower when Edralin died of breast cancer in February 2001. [11] His second wife is Gethsemane "Getsy" Selirio on April 13, 2002, who was editor in chief of Inq-7. [41]

Published books

Tiglao has published three books under Akropolis, a publishing company that Tiglao founded. [42]

References

  1. "GMA to Tiglao: Substance, not glitz, please". The Philippine Star. 21 April 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  2. "Curriculum Vitae". Rigoberto Tiglao. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Facebook Philippines, kontrolado raw ng fact-checkers?". Tsek.ph. June 1, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Sarmiento, Bong S. (December 20, 2021). "FACT CHECK Former foreign secretary del Rosario not leaving Robredo's presidential bid". MindaNews.
  5. 1 2 Feldstein, Steven (May 2021). The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0190057497 . Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Coronel, Shiela S. (May 2, 2019). "Just the Facts: Foreign funding isn't the problem". Rappler.
  7. Rodis, Rodel (January 30, 2015). "Remembering the First Quarter Storm". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  8. 1 2 Rimban, Luz (2004). "The X-Men: The story of activists-turned-political consultants". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
  9. 1 2 "From guts to Gloria". Philippine Daily Inquirer. September 1, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Mariano, Danilo Luis M. "Forty Years Ago -- Film&Theater: Here Lies Love". davidbyrne.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  11. 1 2 "EDRALIN-TIGLAO, Raquel". Bantayog ng mga Bayani . Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Seares: 'Unpatriotic' journalists: Tiglao blasts 'false' writings abroad". SunStar. November 24, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "PCIJ comment on Tiglao's column". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. March 3, 2017.
  14. 1 2 Coronel, Sheila (May 2, 2019). "Just the Facts: Foreign Funding Isn't the Problem". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
  15. 1 2 Benigno, Teodoro (April 17, 2002). "Why Tiglao resigned". Philippine Star.
  16. "Editors' Note". Philippine Daily Inquirer. January 17, 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 Dacanay, Barbara Mae (November 23, 2002). "Newsmaker: Tiglao enjoys his role as secretary". Gulf News.
  18. Abella, Jerrie (October 12, 2010). "Pinoy protesters in Greece demand ouster of envoy". GMA News Online.
  19. "List of TOYM Awardees 1959-2008". Official Ten Outstanding Young Men Philippines blog. July 14, 2009.
  20. "List of Alumni by Class Year". Nieman Foundation . Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  21. "過去のセミナー案内:14年度(2002年9月)". Kyoto University .
  22. Berdos, Enrico (December 18, 2021). "VERA FILES FACT CHECK YEARENDER: Marcos Jr.'s presidential bid props up pro-Marcos propaganda". Vera Files.
  23. Rigoberto D. Tiglao (March 22, 2015). "'Jabidah' was a big hoax". The Manila Times . Archived from the original on November 22, 2016.
  24. "Hoax daw ang pagpatay sa mga sundalong Moro sa "Jabidah Massacre"?". Tsek.ph. 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  25. "Robredo hits Tiglao for 'fake news' about Germany trip". Rappler. April 24, 2018.
  26. Morallo, Audrey (May 21, 2018). "Robredo slams columnist for spreading rumors". Philippine Star.
  27. "China gives 400 transistor radios to Philippines". Update Philippines. Philippine News Agency. February 27, 2017.
  28. 1 2 Tordesillas, Ellen (April 29, 2019). "Ipe Salvosa and Bobi Tiglao". Vera Files.
  29. Montalvan II, Antonio J. (March 20, 2022). "The omnipresent lies of Rigoberto Tiglao". Vera Files.
  30. Arao, Danilo (June 29, 2022). "SEC affirms order to shut down Rappler - The Final Word". CNN Philippines.
  31. tech (2022-05-12). "VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Columnist Tiglao falsely claims Palimbang massacre is 'fake'". VERA Files. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  32. Mindanews (2014-09-26). "1,500 Moro massacre victims during Martial Law honored". MindaNews. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  33. Listening Process Report (PDF). Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission. 2017. pp. 133–136.
  34. "MSSD joins 47th commemoration of Palimbang Massacre, distributes relief assistance to survivors | Ministry of Social Services and Development - BARMM". 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  35. "Ninoy Aquino". Official Gazette (Philippines) . Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  36. 1 2 Kashiwahara, Ken (September 5, 2020). "On Tiglao's Ninoy column". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04.
  37. Malasig, Jeline (August 22, 2022). "Fact check: Ninoy Aquino died a Malaysian citizen?". Interaksyon.
  38. Umil, Anne Marxze D. (January 24, 2022). "NUJP calls out Tiglao's 'malicious, irresponsible' red-tagging of journalists". Bulatlat.
  39. "Tiglao falsely claims Philstar 'wrong' on Robredo topping Google search". Tsek.Ph. March 30, 2022.
  40. "Fact-Check: Quiboloy's church is not the second largest non-Catholic Christian church in the Philippines". PressOnePH. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  41. "Press secretary marries long-time girlfriend". Gulf News. 14 April 2002. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  42. "Akropolis Publishing". Akropolis Publishing. Retrieved 30 April 2024.