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Philippine journalist Marchel Espina charged with unjust vexation over opinion article

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Philippine journalist Marchel Espina charged with unjust vexation over opinion article

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Bangkok, July 24, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on the Iglesia Ni Cristo religious group to drop its criminal complaint of unjust vexation against journalist Marchel Espina over an opinion piece published by a community news site.

On July 17, Espina, former editor-in-chief of the local SunStar Cebu, voluntarily surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group–Negros Island Region Field Unit in Bacolod City and posted bail of 6,000 Philippine pesos ($105) at the Regional Trial Court, according to multiple news reports. 

Marchel Espina has been charged with unjust vexation for publishing an opinion piece while editor-in-chief of the local SunStar Cebu (Photo: Courtesy of Altermidya)

A Batangas City court had on July 13 issued a warrant for the arrest of Espina and four others over the article, titled “Demonic Church Meddling in Politics,” contributed to SunStar Cebu in December 2024 while she was in charge of the news outlet, the reports said. 

The complainant, Pedro Fajot Castillo, a district supervising minister at Iglesia Ni Cristo, an international Christian denomination founded in the Philippines, alleged that the article caused him “annoyance, irritation, torment, distress, and disturbance,” news reports said.

“The unjust vexation case against journalist Marchel Espina is frivolous, a threat to press freedom, and should be dropped immediately,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “This is exactly the kind of legal harassment CPJ has documented again and again in the Philippines — vague, spurious charges used to wear down journalists and chill critical reporting. It should stop here and now.”

Criminal unjust vexation charges, defined under Section 1, Article 287 of the Revised Penal Code, carry a maximum sentence of 30 days and a fine of up to 40,000 Philippine pesos. Espina currently serves as a consultant with WAN-IFRA Women in News, a global media development program.

Rappler contributor and Hapi FM radio announcer Erwin Delilan was arrested twice, in January and February this year, on separate unjust vexation charges filed by Negros Occidental provincial officials over a satirical poem he posted on Facebook criticizing the provincial government’s response to Typhoon Tino in November 2025.

CPJ’s emailed request for comment to Iglesia Ni Cristo and the Regional Trial Court in Bacolod City did not receive an immediate reply.

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