Newsbreak editor and staff members face libel suit arraignment
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – The editor in chief and four other members of the Manila-based Newsbreak magazine have been summoned for arraignment by an Ilocos Sur court in connection to a libel case filed by a governor of the province.
Vigan City Regional Trial Court Branch 21 judge Cecilia Corazon Dulay-Archog in a 1 July 2011 order set the arraignment of Newsbreak’s editor in chief Marites Dañguilan-Vitug, board member Maan Hontiveros, deputy editor Gemma Bagayaua, and fellows Lala Rimando and Aries Rufo on 13 September 2011 for libel filed by Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson in 2006. (Vigan City, the capital of Ilocos Sur, is approximately 336 kilometers north of Manila.)
The libel case stemmed from several reports published in Newsbreak’s June 2005 issue which referred to Singson as the “second gentleman” and discussed his alleged involvement in illegal gambling and smuggling activities. (“Second Gentleman”; “Trouble on sequestered land”; “Name a Business, He’s into it”; “Beyond Vigan”) Some of these reports were also published on the Newsbreak website.
In an 8 August 2011 report, Newsbreak said the arraignment order came out despite a resolution released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) ”junking the libel complaint and setting aside the original prosecutor’s resolution finding probable cause against the accused.”
Vitug said, in an interview with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), that the Vigan judge denied the withdrawal of information of the prosecutor. The withdrawal was based on the issued resolution of DOJ junking the libel charges.
Dulay-Archog explained in the 1 July 2011 order that “it is still the prerogative of the Court to deny a motion to withdraw information based on its own assessment.” She added that the arguments raised by Vitug and other Newsbreak members were “evidentiary in nature which must be presented and heard during the trial.”
Singson claimed that Newsbreak intentionally maligned him in public and caused him “dishonor, discredit and contempt”. According to a 6 July 2010 Newsbreak report, Singson said the reports were “foul by all standards of decency and was an attempt to depict him as a cad and a scoundrel worthy of contempt and derision.”
However, Vitug and four others, in their counter-affidavits as also reported by Newsbreak on 8 August 2011, said “the articles were not defamatory because they tackled about the conduct of a public official whose acts maybe the subject of public discussion in media.” They also affirmed that the articles contained “qualified privileged communication because they were a fair commentary on a matter of public interest.”
Aside from the libel suit by Singson, Vitug is also facing possible libel charges for her story on the alleged participation of Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, Jr. in his son’s electoral bid in Marinduque. Velasco filed the complaint in March 2010, and is now pending before the Manila DOJ.
[…] electing to drop all charges in 2007 as a putative gesture of peace toward the press—including her own Rappler colleague Vitug. More to the point, surely someone of Ressa’s stature needs no reminding that it behooves […]
[…] electing to drop all charges in 2007 as a putative gesture of peace toward the press—including her own Rappler colleague Vitug. More to the point, surely someone of Ressa’s stature needs no reminding that it behooves […]