Lawmaker files libel raps vs publisher, writer
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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HOUSE Speaker Prospero “Nogie” C. Nograles filed libel charges against a writer and a publisher of a local weekly for maligning his reputation.
Charged with four counts of libel were Roger M. Balanza and Edgar Velez of the Durian Post, a weekly newspaper that has a heavy slant against the Speaker.
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Subject of Nograles’s complaint is Balanza’s article entitled "Does he deserve your vote? Nogie shaming city before world, nation" that was published in its February 15 to 21, 2010 issue.
Nograles’s affidavit further underlined the portion that says, the Davao congressman "adopts dirty tactics to realize his dream" and "while dumping his cans of black paint on the city's image, he goes around town wooing the votes of the Dabawenyos whom he maligns in public."
Nograles also cited in the article published in the February 22 to 28 issues with the title, "Nogie's exposé backfires", which tackled how Nograles’s exposé of the P2.9-billion unaccounted City Government properties and equipment "has backfired and instead exposed his own wrongdoings."
In the article, it said that the allegation only "exposed the bias of Speaker against rights and welfare of women and children."
On the same issue, Balanza wrote "Nogie needs P500M to beat Inday Sara", which Nograles claimed identified him as a candidate for mayoralty race who engages in vote-buying to win the upcoming election.
The same issue further stated that Nograles has an unaccounted cash advance of P15 million in Congress as shown in the COA report and he, together with Benjamin de Guzman, "doctored the COA report to show otherwise."
Nograles said there were other articles in the issues of Durian Post written mostly by Balanza which discredit, defame, dishonor, and destroy his reputation.
He further claimed that contrary to established practices of journalism, there was no effort on the part of respondents to get his side on all of the derogatory articles.
