Case against Mike Arroyo to continue

Now that the legal impediments have been  resolved with finality, the 36 journalists and three media organizations that  filed a P12.5 million class suit against the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo  can expect the case to proceed.

Lawyer Harry Roque told  CMFR In a 28 May 2010 interview  that  two impediments to the progress of  the court proceedings-the motion to quash the class suit for lack of cause of action and the complaint over the alleged failure of the complainants to pay the proper docket fees, both filed by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo-have finally been set aside.

The Supreme Court denied the motion filed by Arroyo asking for the dismissal of the damage class suit filed by 36 journalists and three media organizations against him.

On 10 March 2010, the SC  upheld  the 22 September 2008 and 24 February 2009 decision of the Court of Appeals denying  Arroyo’s petition for certiorari,  arguing that the appellate court did not err in its decision to allow the class suit to proceed.

“The Court further resolves to deny the petition for failure of petitioner to sufficiently show that the Court of Appeals committed any reversible error in the challenged decision and resolution as warrant the exercise of this Court’s discretionary appelate jurisdiction,” the Supreme Court’s First Division stated in a resolution.

On 26 December 2006, 36 journalists, together with the Center of Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Manila broadsheet The Daily Tribune, filed a P12.5 million (approximately $248,011) class suit for damages in response to the libel cases  Arroyo had been filing against journalists since 2003. The suit argued that Arroyo was  abusing  his right to sue  and that the libel suits were an attack on press freedom.

A certiorari is a writ issued by a superior court to an inferior court to annul or modify court proceedings if the latter judge has acted without or in excess of his jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion.

Arroyo argued that a court acquires jurisdiction only when the petitioners have paid the proper docket fees. He said they should have paid a docket fee of P9 million,  as  each petitioner was asking for P12.5 million in damages. Docket fees are calculated based on the damages sought by those initiating a civil action and are formally determined by the court.  But the complainants said  they were asking only for P12.5 million in damages collectively.

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