Notorious pro-Duterte red-tagger Lorraine Badoy, former spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has been fined P30,000 by the Supreme Court (SC) for red-tagging Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar.

The SC, in a decisive 51-page En Banc decision, found Badoy guilty of indirect contempt.

This ruling was based on her multiple insults and a death threat posted on her Facebook page against Judge Magdoza-Malagar of Manila RTC Branch 19.

This retaliation came after the judge denied the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) petition to label the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as terrorists.

On September 21, 2022, Magdoza-Malagar rejected the DOJ’s petition to proscribe the CPP-NPA as terrorists under the now-repealed Human Security Act of 2007, replaced by the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2020.

Both laws faced scrutiny from human rights groups and legal experts due to potential overreaching powers granted to government agencies in designating individuals or organizations as terrorists.

The SC stated that Badoy’s assertions, claiming ties between Magdoza-Malagar and the communist insurgency, and alleging assistance from the CPP-NPA in crafting the decision, posed a threat to the judiciary’s impartiality.

“Contrary to respondent’s allegation, her posts made on Sept. 23, 2022, and Sept. 25, 2022, constitute ‘improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice’ — which equates to indirect contempt,” the court’s decision read.

“These statements constitute conduct that ‘tends to bring the authority of the court and the administration of law into disrepute or in some manner to impede the due administration of justice,’ it added.

The SC emphasized that Badoy’s so-called “criticisms” were not made in good faith “or without malice” and are not considered “fair commentaries” as it is not “grounded in truth and facts.”

“She launched the tirade against the Judiciary without thinking of the consequences that her unverified statements may bring,” the high court’s ruling read.

Apart from the fine, the SC warned of more severe penalties if Badoy repeats such actions in the future.

In a related development, the labor group Alliance of Health Workers filed a joint position paper seeking the revocation of Lorraine Badoy’s medical license, citing her instances of red-tagging. The Professional Regulation Commission will now consider this new filing.

Badoy faced reprimand from the Office of the Ombudsman in September 2023 for linking the National Union of People’s Lawyers to the communist insurgency.

Furthermore, she, along with her co-host Jeffrey Celiz at Sonshine Media Network International, is facing civil charges filed by journalist Atom Araullo in September 2023 and by former Bayan Representative Teddy Casiño in December 2023 for “continued red-tagging.”