Castro reports alleged online threat to NBI

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

ONLINE THREAT. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro reports a Facebook page to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday (Jan. 13, 2025) over an alleged death threat made against her. Castro reported a post made by a Facebook page named “Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan,” which mentioned that only her “appendix and coccyx” would be left untouched once she is dropped by her “humans.” (Photo: PNA/Facebook)

MANILA – Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro on Tuesday went to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to report a Facebook page for allegedly posting content that she said could be construed as a death threat against her.

Castro reported a post made by a Facebook page named “Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan,” which mentioned that only her “appendix and coccyx” would be left untouched once she is dropped by her “humans.”

The post also criticized Castro for supposedly serving the interests of the Marcos administration.

Castro said her move was, for now, limited to formally documenting the incident, stressing that she has yet to decide whether to pursue legal action.

“Kailangan ko lang kasing i-report ito para at least nga kung may mangyari man sa akin, may mga taong puwedeng maimbestigahan (I just need to report this so that, at the very least, if something happens to me, there are people who can be investigated),” she said.

Castro said she personally knows only Cruz-Angeles and not Paglinawan, whose names were carried by the page.

Part of the post read, referring to Castro: “Sana rin, sa bagong taong ito, maintindihan mo na na oras na nilaglag ka ng humans mo, appendix at coxyx mo lang ang walang latay, resulta ng mga pinagagagawa mo (Hopefully, this new year, you will understand that once your ‘humans’ drop you, only your appendix and coccyx will be left without bruises, as a result of what you have done).”

Castro also underscored that while freedom of expression is protected, it should not be used to justify threats to a person’s life.

“Ang sa atin lang naman, kung sinasabi nilang may freedom of expression sila. Lahat naman tayo dito ay dapat na ma-exercise ang ating freedom of expression at hindi na kailangan na kung ikaw man ay nago-oppose sa sinabi ng isang tao, ikaw ay magbabanta na sa buhay niya (If they say they have freedom of expression, all of us should be able to exercise that right, but there is no need to resort to threatening someone’s life just because you oppose what a person is saying),” she said.