Crisis: National

Editor, actress settle cases
TWO LIBEL cases, this time filed by a journalist against an actress, were dropped on Jan. 30 after both parties reached an out-of-court settlement.
Judge Rosanna Fe Maglaya, of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 88, dismissed journalist Jo-Ann Maglipon’s suits against actress Claudine Barretto after confirming that Maglipon had withdrawn the libel charges. Maglipon is editor in chief of Yes! and former executive editor of Hi!, both entertainment magazines published by Summit Media.
Barretto first filed an injunction and a civil suit for damages against Maglipon on July 22, saying that her photographs had been published in Yes! without her consent.  She also claimed to have received “non-stop negative publicity, craftily disguised as feature stories” from the magazines.
Barretto said that she had been “a victim of unfair and irresponsible journalism” that violated her rights as well as those of her family.
The actress asked for P8 million in damages as well as a restraining order that would keep Maglipon and “all those acting under her control and direction” at least 250 meters away from her, “her immediate family, and her places of residence.”
In response, Maglipon filed seven libel suits, three of which were affirmed in court. She said in her complaint that Barretto’s imputations “directly caused dishonor and discredit on her as a professional writer and as a person.”
A number of journalists supported Maglipon, whom they described as a responsible practitioner, and said Barretto’s efforts to prevent Maglipon and her staff from writing about her was a breach of press freedom.
Barretto’s manager Johnny Manahan and Summit Media publisher Lisa Gokongwei agreed to resolve the matter out of court by signing an agreement wherein Barretto and Maglipon agreed to withdraw each other’s complaints.

Case against suspected killers of journalists reopened
THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) ordered on Jan. 16 the reopening of the murder case against the suspected killers of radio broadcaster Rolando Ureta.
Declaring the defendants’ alibis as insufficient, the DOJ directed the Aklan provincial prosecutor to file the proper charges against Amador Paz and Jessie Ticar.
Ureta’s widow, Emely, lauded the DOJ’s decision. “I’m very happy. For six years, I have been praying for something to happen with the case. This is an answered prayer,” she said.
Ureta was killed on Jan. 3, 2001 in Aklan.
The murder charge against Paz and Ticar was filed by the Aklan Provincial Police office on Sept. 24, 2004. Gerson Sonio, the lone witness to the killing, testified that he saw Paz driving a motorcycle in tandem with Ticar, who shot Ureta three times.
Ureta was reporting and commenting on illegal gambling and illegal drugs in his community before he was killed. He had been receiving death threats as early as 2000.
On Dec. 6, 2004, however, Third Assistant Prosecutor Apolinar Barrios rejected the testimony of Sonio and dismissed the complaint for “lack of probable cause.”
The witness’s father, Perlito Sonio, and his uncle, Diego Masangya, had filed separate affidavits claiming that Sonio was in Iloilo City, some 200 km away from Aklan, on the day of the killing and could not have possibly witnessed it.
The local police and Emely filed an appeal for the reversal of the complaint’s dismissal on April 26, 2005, alleging grave abuse of discretion by the investigating prosecutor.
Paz and Ticar will now stand trial for the killing of Ureta.

Tulfo brothers post bail
Journalists Ramon, Erwin, and Raffy Tulfo each posted a P10,000-bail bond at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 after a judge issued warrants for their arrest last Jan. 26.  Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.
The three journalists are brothers.  Raffy and Erwin are in broadcasting while Ramon is primarily a print columnist. All three had a TV program in a government-sequestered station but this was cancelled in August last year.
Erwin posted bail on Jan. 26 while Raffy and Ramon did so on Jan. 29.
Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, filed the libel complaint after the Tulfo brothers accused him in a press conference on Aug. 2 of having a hand in the cancellation of their program, Isumbong Mo, Tulfo Brothers over RPN-9.
The brothers said in the press conference that Arroyo had the program cancelled because of their exposés on the alleged smuggling activities of Vicky Toh, and her brother, Tomas, who are alleged to have links with Mike Arroyo.
Assistant City Prosecutor Prosecutor Juan Rodulfo recommended the filing of charges after finding probable cause in Arroyo’s complaint.
The Tulfos will be arraigned on Feb. 28 at 8:30 a.m.

Bulacan governor warns journalists
BULACAN GOV. Josefina Mendoza dela Cruz warned journalists on Jan. 22 that she will file libel charges against them if they report “unsubstantiated news to malign her reputation.”
“Anticipating various tactics of political mudslinging pending the coming May elections, Dela Cruz declared that she would file charges against members of the press who would write or report unsubstantiated news to malign her reputation,” a report from the provincial public affairs office said.
Jose Pavia, executive director of the Philippine Press Institute and Bulacan-based newspaper Mabuhay, however, said the governor’s warning amounted to “prior restraint.”
“We already know those things. Do we still have to be told? It’s threatening the media,” Pavia said.

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