Libel case vs Garcia and 7 PUNCH staff reinstated
IN an unprecedented move, the office of the City Prosecutor of Pasig City reversed and set aside a resolution it issued Dec. 27, 2014 dismissing the complaint for libel (four counts) of CityState Savings Bank, Inc. against staff members and employees of The Sunday Punch.
The nine-page resolution penned by Assistant City Prosecutor Michael Robles, the reviewing prosecutor, approved by Deputy City Prosecutor George de Joya dated April 28, 2014 granted the motion for reconsideration of the complainant and resolved that probable cause exists for the filing of an Information for two counts of libel against the staffers of The PUNCH led by Publisher-Editor Ermin Garcia Jr.
The other respondents are Marifi Jara, associate editor; Jun Velasco, contributing editor-columnist; Jesus Garcia Jr., correspondent and sports columnist; Johanne Macob, correspondent; Julie Ann Arrogante, on-line administrator; Jocelyn de la Cruz, production manager; and Virgilio Biagtan, cartoonist.
A bail of P10,000 each for the two counts of libel was recommended for each of the respondents except for Biagtan, whose cartoon only appeared in the Aug. 25, 2013 issue of THE PUNCH and not in the later publication of September 1-7, 2013.
The charge against another respondent, Dominador Liwag Jr. of Dagupan Electric Corp., was dismissed for lack of evidence.
The resolution dismissing the libel complaint against all named respondents dated Dec. 27, 2013 was issued by Assistant Prosecutor Rodney Magbanua, the investigating prosecutor, approved by City Prosecutor Jacinto Ang.
The complaint stemmed from the banner story of The PUNCH in its August 24, 2013 issue with the title “CityState Bank’s electric bills charged to City Hall”. In the Sept. 1-7, 2013 issue of the paper, an item in the Punch stated: “The problem over electric bills has been worsened by the discovery that the city government is paying for the consumption of a privately owned bank operating in the ground floor of MC Adore building”.
Robles supported Citystate’s assertion that his colleague Magbanua erred in his determination that Citystate should have filed the complaint in Dagupan City, not in Pasig City.
He also supported Citystate’s position that the seven staff members listed in the paper’s editorial box are equally liable as Garcia invoking Article 360 of the Revised Penal Code
that states: The author or editor…or business manager …shall be responsible for the defamations contained therein….”
Garcia said “the resolution is perplexing because not one of the seven staffers is listed as business manager unless the prosecutor has a book that says they are all one and the same, and I’d like him to share it with the honourable judge. ”
He said he welcomes the libel charge because it will serve as a public forum on the illegal operation of the bank in Dagupan and the tainted ownership of the MC Adore building.
Garcia also expressed confidence that since article in question is imbued with public interest involving government’s official interests and concerns, the case will eventually be dismissed.
Atty. Harry Roque, head of Center for International Law, and Atty. Romel Bagares, a former journalist, will defend The PUNCH staff pro bono. Roque is the lawyer for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
Roque said the Citystate case is clearly another press freedom case and serves as another reason for decriminalizing libel since it has become a convenient tool by vested interests for harassing journalists.
Atty. Ferdinand Topacio will represent the Citystate Bank.
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