DOJ to probe NBI agent’s alleged intimidation vs. Rappler reporter

In the middle of the video, a male agent suddenly approached Rey and asked her to stop recording the events. He also tried to cover Rey’s camera with his hands. (Screengrabbed from video by Aika Rey/Facebook)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, February 14, said it will investigate the incident wherein an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) told a Rappler reporter to stop filming their service of an arrest warrant against the news outfit’s chief executive officer (CEO) Maria Ressa.

In an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said, “We do not want to make a conclusion which may be out of context that’s why we would want to look into the incident and illicit as well the side of operatives who were serving the warrant so we would have a clearer picture of what transpired to find out if there has been any violation in the service of the warrant.”

On Wednesday, Rappler reporter Aika Rey posted a live video on her Facebook account, showing the NBI agents serving the warrant of arrest at Rappler’s headquarters in Pasig City.

In the middle of the video, a male agent suddenly approached Rey and asked her to stop recording the events. He also tried to cover Rey’s camera with his hands.

The reporter then asked for an explanation of why would she stop recording. The agent then answered her, “Because I’m saying so.”

Rey did not stop filming and kept on asking for an explanation. Later on, the agent told her that they are “just doing their jobs” and that their “face shouldn’t be posted anywhere else.”

The Rappler reporter said if the agent told him the reason sooner, then things would have been easier.

Responding to this, the NBI agent told Rey, “Can you stop doing what you’re doing now? Is it okay? Oh great and tell the same thing to your colleague. Because definitely if we see our faces on the net, you’ll be sorry. You’ve been warned. We’ll go after you.”

But NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Victor Lorenzo denied that the NBI agent intimidated Rey and asked her to stop taking videos.

“May sinasabi pa nga, pinahinto namin ‘yung pagkuha ng video pero hindi eh, kasi nga makikita mo naka-livestream nga siya, di ba, naka-live feed. So wala talagang effort na ganon, walang logic, bakit naman namin gagawin ‘yun? Walang purpose eh, saka bakit mo i-intimidate (They were saying we asked them to stop taking videos, but no, you can see she was live streaming, right, she had a live feed. So there was no effort like that, there was no logic, why would we do that? There is no purpose, and why would you intimidate them) ?” Lorenzo said in a press conference.

Rappler’s lawyer, JJ Disni, said they will also look into the incident and decide what action they will take.

The arrest warrant against Ressa over a cyber libel charge was served by the NBI agents early evening on Wednesday, just as courts were closing.

Ressa was detained at the NBI’s headquarters overnight after a Pasay City night court judge refused to allow her to post bail her bail.

She was released on Thursday after she posted bail of P100,000.

[READ: Rappler CEO walks out of detention after posting bail]