27/04/2026
STATEMENT | The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) - Cagayan de Oro Chapter notes with serious concern after our member, Menzie Montes, news director of RMN/iFM Cagayan de Oro, received a subpoena for allegedly violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Data Privacy Act.
The complaint was filed by Richel Petalcurin-Dahay, acting department head of the Cagayan de Oro City Education and Development Office. It stemmed from their conversation with Montes amid the alleged delayed tuition payments and delayed issuance of city scholarsโ allowances last year.
According to the subpoena dated April 15, 2026, both parties had a conversation through the Messenger app and agreed to an interview on November 25, 2025, to address the issue.
Prior to the scheduled interview, iFM CDO posted on its page the complaint message from a student who requested anonymity without the explanation from the appropriate office, which prompted Petalcurin-Dahay to message Montes and confront her.
Montes told her that she would visit her office, but the acting department head already refused to be interviewed and told her that their office is open to accommodate concerns from โidentifiableโ students.
After this, iFM CDO made another Facebook post, providing an update that the acting department head could no longer accommodate the scheduled interview. The said post contained the screenshots of the entire conversation between Montes and Petalcurin-Dahay regarding the issue, which the latter believed had violated journalism ethics and her right to privacy.
The NUJP Cagayan de Oro Chapter sees that the complaint illustrates the pattern of weaponizing the law for retaliation and harassment against media workers.
We noted the fact that iFM CDO posted the complaint message without the explanation from the City Scholarship Office, but the complainant should consider the effort of Montes in performing her job to get their side before posting the matter.
We also believe that Montes had no bad intention when her news outlet posted the screenshots of their conversation, considering that the contained information was a matter of public interest.
Public servants should not be too onion-skinned when facing issues involving of public interest, as they are accountable to the people for their actions, decisions, and use of public resources.
We reiterate that cases like this might have a chilling effect, affecting journalistsโ work in covering critical issues that are essential for the general public to know.
Montes received the subpoena on Thursday, April 23, and was asked by the Office of the City Prosecutor to file her counter-affidavit.
The NUJP Cagayan de Oro urges other media groups and news outlets to join us in demanding the dismissal of the complaints against Montes.
Reference:
NUJP Cagayan de Oro | [email protected]
