Libel complaint against journalists dismissed
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A provincial prosecutor dismissed last 18 January 2011 a libel complaint filed by a government employee against a columnist and the editors of a local newspaper in Catanduanes. Catanduanes is an island province approximately 580 kilometers south of Manila.
The libel complaint filed by Rommel Valeza, a utility worker at the Office of the Provincial Governor, against columnist Mel Rima of the now defunct local weekly The Island Times, publisher Jocelyn Mendiola-Buena and editor-in-chief Ramil Soliveres was dismissed for lack of probable cause.
According to the resolution penned by 2nd Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Joan Mosatalla. Valeza failed to prove that he was the one described in Rima’s article.
“There is a lack of sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that the said utility worker referred to in the article and the complainant are one and the same person,” the prosecutor said.
The complaint stemmed from Rima’s October 2010 column on the alleged sexual exploits of a certain utility worker in the capitol (“Touching the Untouchable”). The column alleged this utility worker, described by Lima as “Impakto (ghoul)” has been sending “erotic text messages” to job applicants.
Valeza claimed in his December 2010 complaint that he was the utility worker portrayed in Rima’s column. He said he was the only worker called “Impakto” at the Catanduanes capitol.
The prosecutor, however, said that the use of “Impakto” and “utility worker” cannot sufficiently establish that Rima was referring to Valeza in his October 2010 column.
Libel, a criminal offense in the Philippines, has often been used to harass journalists and media workers.
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