Land broker files libel case vs pal over FB messages

A REAL estate broker from Argao town, Cebu filed a libel complaint against her former friend for posting allegedly malicious comments on Facebook.

Eldessa Akse, a real estate broker, claimed that her friend maligned her reputation through allegedly libelous remarks she posted on the social networking site.

Sun. Star Cebu is withholding the name of the respondent until she formally submits her answer to the allegations.

“(Respondent’s) acts of defamation and denouncement to my reputation constitute a clear violation of a provision of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines and is therefore a crime punishable by law,” she said in her complaint filed before the Office of the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor on Aug. 30.

The investigating prosecutor is expected to subpoena the respondent to submit her counter-affidavit so he could start conducting a preliminary investigation, which is a part of the rules of criminal procedure.

The investigating officer will determine whether or not there is sufficient ground to
hold the respondent for trial in court.

In her complaint-affidavit, Akse said the respondent posted allegedly libelous comments on Facebook after they had a “very heated exchange of words” via the social networking site in July.

She said the respondent called her names.

When they tried to settle the issue before the village chief, she said the respondent owned up the alleged libelous comments.

She said the allegedly malicious comments of the respondent affected both her personal and professional life.