THE Office of the Ombudsman has affirmed the dismissal of the libel case filed by Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro against Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.

“It was absurd to begin with,” Remonde said in a text message to Sun.Star Cebu.

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Remonde said he was just doing his job as acting executive secretary when he asked the Department of Justice to recall Castro from her detail at the Bureau of Immigration.

Letter

Castro, who filed the complaint, has yet to receive a copy of the ruling.

“Dili sa ta magtuki sa wala (Let’s not discuss something that is yet to be),” she said.

In his letter, Remonde asked Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales to start “appropriate disciplinary action” against Castro based on documents and reports that have “reached me personally.”

Castro alleged in her complaint that the letter was libelous and accused Remonde of being behind its publication.

But in a three-page resolution approved by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, the anti-graft office said libel was not proven. The resolution said Remonde’s letter “is not considered defamatory.”

Remonde said he does not know Castro but heard about her from journalists in Cebu. Remonde was a broadcaster based in Cebu before he worked for government.