Rigoberto Tiglao

In March 2022, of Tiglao's writings, columnist and social anthropologist Antonio Montalvan II states: "he conjures up his conspiracy theories and repeats them over and over again like Joseph Goebbels".

In October 2021, columnist and political science professor Anna Malindog-Uy referred to Tiglao as a "prominent, multi-awarded, and well-respected journalist".

In May 2019, according to journalist, PCIJ co-founder and former executive director, and former academic dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Sheila Coronel, Tiglao had "morphed from being a fact-based journalist to an intellectual apologist for a clampdown on our hard-won freedoms". Tiglao, in Manila Times columns advocated for the closure of journalistic organizations like PCIJ, CMFR, Vera Files, and Rappler for receiving foreign funding, as well as the jailing of their staff. While the Philippine Constitution forbids foreign ownership and management of media, and there are no prohibitions on receiving foreign grants. Furthermore, Coronel labeled Tiglao's rhetoric as straight from Russian president Vladimir Putin's playbook, which "softens the ground for a clampdown on the press and civil society" and is "aimed at crushing critical voices and silencing civil society". Russia passed a law in 2012 that branded certain NGOs as foreign agents for receiving funding, and passed a law in 2015 that allowed the Russian government to close foreign-funded groups that it deemed undesirable. According to Coronel, this playbook has been used in other countries including Hungary and Brazil, and that Tiglao wants it implemented in the Philippines.

Tiglao was called "sloppy" in April 2018 by investigative journalist Raissa Robles for getting facts wrong, such as calling SCL Group "a sister company of Cambridge Analytica" when it was the parent company.

In June 2018, journalist and News5 chief correspondent Ed Lingao had these to say about Tiglao: "Mabuhay ang mga propagandist at spinmaster!" (Long live propagandists and spinmasters!) and "Of course, you have had your time, and you were good during your time as a journalist. But you can't lean on what you did two decades ago to make up for your current propaganda work" after Tiglao called other journalists cry-baby millennials and old mediocre reporters after they recounted threats sent to them.

In November 2017, at the advice of journalist and former chairperson of the University of the Philippines Department of Journalism Danilo Arao, Bulatlat Managing Editor Benjie Oliveros spoke out against Tiglao, stating that Tiglao practices a combination of fake news and irresponsible journalism in his Manila Times column and that Tiglao had maliciously resorted to slandering journalists and media outfits. Tiglao had red-tagged Bulatlat as being run by "Communist party propaganda cadres" and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) of receiving funds from the CIA. Oliveros then stated that Tiglao had been "lying through his teeth and slandering people and media outfits while claiming and boasting that he is a journalist", and that Tiglao was what he accused other people of being: "a liar and a propagandist".

Since the early 2010s, there have been a number of incidents where assertions by Tiglao have been refuted as untruthful, "fake news," or "disinformation." Governance and foreign policy analyst Steven Feldstein notes how Tiglao, along with RJ Nieto and Sass Rogando Sasot are part of the Philippines' network of digital repression. Researchers from University of the Philippines illustrated an alleged link between Tiglao and a network spreading pro-Marcos propaganda and disinformation. They also noted that some members of the public tend to dismiss fact-checks done by traditional journalists because of people and columnists like Tiglao, who for example tags fact-checkers like Vera Files as "a CIA-funded outfit".

He was eventually appointed by Pres. Arroyo as the Philippine Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus from 2006 to 2010. During the start of the Benigno Aquino III administration, Overseas Filipino Workers staged a protest in front of the Philippine Embassy in Athens, Greece to demand his removal due to accusations by them of "dismal performance and a lavish lifestyle".

A year after the death of his first wife Raquel, he accepted the offer of the role of Press Secretary under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - taking over the role from her first Press Secretary, Noel Cabrera, in April 2002. Tiglao subsequently moved on to the roles of Presidential Spokesman, Presidential Chief of Staff, then head of Presidential Management Staff.

In April 2002, the late veteran journalist Teddy Benigno recounted how in his opinion as a Catholic Mass Media Awards board of judges member, Tiglao alone deserved the award for reporting in 1983. He also described Tiglao as "a damn good business writer" who proved it by eventually becoming bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Tiglao was first married to Raquel "Rock" Edralin, a women's rights advocate. He had three children with her. He became a widower when Edralin died of breast cancer in February 2001. His second wife is Gethsemane "Getsy" Selirio on April 13, 2002 who was editor in chief of Inq-7.

Tiglao became a columnist at the Philippine Daily Inquirer from 2000 to 2002 and from 2010 to 2013. He was also former editor-in-chief of Inq7.net (now Inquirer.net), the website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In 1989, Tiglao was one of 9 journalists who founded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), an independent nonprofit media agency specializing in investigative reporting. He was the one who first proposed the creation of the PCIJ, getting the idea after visiting the Center for Investigative Reporting in California. and he served as the PCIJ's treasurer in its earliest days, when it operated out of the PhP 1,000 chipped in by each of the founding members, and initial grants from The Asia Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

From 1989 to 2000, he served as the Manila bureau chief and correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He became president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) from 1997 to 1998.

From 1988 to 1989, he was a Nieman fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. In 2002, he became a fellow for the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at Kyoto University.

Tiglao was awarded the Best News Reporter by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 1983. In 1991, he was awarded Best Economic Journalist for Asia by Mitsubishi Foundation. In 1992, he was named one of the The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for Print Journalism by the Philippine Jaycees.

He later became a reporter for Business Day from 1981 to 1986. He then served as business editor and columnist at the Manila Chronicle from 1986 to 1989. His chapter on "The Consolidation of Dictatorship" in the 1988 book "Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power" is cited as one of the accounts of precisely how Ferdinand Marcos consolidated power during the early years of his presidency.

Rigoberto "Bobi" Dikit Tiglao (born August 27, 1952) is a Filipino opinion columnist who works at The Manila Times.