Female journalist verbally attacked by local mayor

Description

In Cebu province, during a press conference hosted by Sugbo News via Facebook September 20, 2024, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia verbally attacked SunStar Cebu journalist Claudine Flores over her coverage of the Supreme Court's order requiring Garcia to pay $700,000 in damages, plus interest and legal costs, to Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC). The case involves Garcia's business dealings before her time in office.

On that Facebook live, the governor publicly berated Flores, accusing her of exaggerating the facts for attention and calling her a "lazy” journalist. Garcia's outburst included cursing and personal insults.

This was not the first time the governor humiliated journalists and even private citizens through the Facebook live medium. At present, Flores is not ready to give any statement regarding the incident.

Information
Is the case related to their journalistic work?
Yes
Number of attacked persons or entities related to media
1
Do they work as freelance or media?
No
Position in media
Reporter
Status of journalists
Full time
Gender
Female
Age
Data not collected
Country
Region VII – Central Visayas
Full name or name of group
Identified
The name of perpetrator (individual/group)
Cebu Province Governor Gwendolyn Garcia
Background (state actor or non state actor)
State actor (Police officer, Military officer, Government, public institution, etc)
Gender
Female
Is it related to gender and identity based violence?
No
Attack mention about gender background/sexual wording?
No
Date of incident
Type of incident
Verbal Intimidation
Please type the data source here (text)
Information shared to NUJP by its member.