Former president sues Manila broadsheet
CMFR/PHILIPPINES-Deposed president Joseph “Erap” Estrada filed on 17 September 2009 a libel complaint against a Manila-based broadsheet for a report on his alleged coercion of a businessman in 1998.
Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines. Media groups have been calling for the decriminalization of libel, which has been abused by several powerful politicians and personalities to intimidate the press.
Estrada was removed from office in 2001 and convicted of plunder in 2007. He was pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2008 after talks between him and her allies.
Estrada filed a libel complaint against the Philippine Daily Inquirer for its 16 September 2009 front-page, banner story “Erap bullied me, says (Alfonso) Yuchengco: Taipan confirms coercion in PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) deal”. Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot, editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, and reporters Christine Avendaño, Doris Dumlao and Daxim Lucas were named respondents in the complaint filed before the prosecutor’s office of San Juan City. Yuchengco was also included in the libel complaint.
Estrada served as mayor of San Juan City for almost two decades. His son, Joseph Victor Ejercito, now serves as its mayor.
The Inquirer reported on 16 September Yuchengco’s statement that he was coerced by the Estrada government into selling the shares of his company Philippine Telecommunication Investment Corp. (PTIC) in the PLDT to First Pacific Co. represented by Manuel Pangilinan in 1998. Yuchengco’s statement confirmed an earlier claim by former national police chief, now senator Panfilo Lacson.
Yuchengco’s statement came a day after Lacson delivered a privilege speech on the deposed president’s allegedly illegal acts during his administration. Estrada was President from 1998 to February 2001. Lacson was a former supporter of Estrada and served as chief of the Philippine National Police and head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) during Estrada’s administration.
The Philippine Star quoted Estrada’s complaint last 18 September 2009 as alleging that “all the elements of the crime of libel are present in this case. The defamatory statements of respondent Yuchengco and their publication by the Philippine Daily Inquirer were meant to destroy my integrity and reputation and ill-timed to derail my political goals.”
Other news organizations also reported Yuchengco’s statement, but Estrada sued only the Inquirer. The Inquirer and Estrada have been at odds since 1998 when Estrada accused the newspaper of bias against him. Estrada later instigated an ad boycott against the Inquirer.
In its 18 September 2009 issue, the Inquirer said it has yet to receive a copy of the libel complaint filed by Estrada. But it firmly asserts that there was no malice in its 16 September report. “…the story was a fair and true report of an issue vested with public interest,” the Inquirer said in its statement.
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