PRESS Secretary Cerge Remonde welcomed the dismissal of the libel complaint filed against him by Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Mary Ann in April 2009.

Just recently, the Cebu City Prosecutors' Office junked the charges against the Cabinet official due to insufficient evidence.

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"The dismissal of the libel case against me is most welcome. The charges were absurd in the first place. I was just performing my duty as acting executive secretary," said Remonde in an interview Thursday.

Remonde admitted that in his duty as executive secretary, he received many reports and complaints regarding public officials, which he always refers to the heads of agencies concerned.

"How could there be a crime in the performance of a duty?" he said.

The press secretary also said he does not personally know Castro but heard about the prosecutor through fellow media personalities in Cebu.

"She is very notorious in Cebu media. I heard about her everytime I go home and with our friends in Cebu media. Her name sometimes is mentioned that she is untouchable, etc...But I don't personally know her. I don't even remember her face," he said.

The camp of Castro has yet to air their next move after the dismissal of the case.

For Remonde, he considered another battle against Castro as inconsequential.

"I don't know I cannot allow myself to (dwell on that). I have much larger fishes to fry here (Office of the Press Secretary). I just have to continue doing my job in the service of the presidency," he said.

In a three-page resolution approved by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, it said that the letter, written by Remonde, which Castro alleged to be libelous and damaging to her reputation was not proven as such therefore no crime has been committed.

"The letter is not considered defamatory, as it is not an imputation of a crime, or a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or nay act, omission, condition status, or circumstances tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of Mary Ann Castro," the resolution stated.

Castro accused Remonde of causing the publication of his letter dated April 27, 2009 and addressed to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.

Remonde's letter sought the immediate recall of Castro from her post in Bureau of Immigration (BI) due to several allegations including extortion, corruption, and irregular notarization.

The content of the letter spread in broadcast, television, and print media was published on Sun.Star Cebu on April 29, 2009 with the headline "Recall Castro from BI: Cerge."

Castro averred that the allegations against her in the newspaper were "libelous, defamatory, and intriguing against her honor."

But Remonde told Sun.Star Thursday that he was not the one responsible for the dissemination of the letter.

To support her lawsuit, she used the copy of the Sun.Star Cebu news article, Remonde's letter and certain pleadings filed with respect to the alleged cases against her.

But after further deliberation, the prosecutor resolved the case in favor of Remonde citing that the "letter does not, at all, contain words that are calculated to induce the readers to deduce that the complainant against whom they are written is guilty of certain offenses."

The resolution said the Sun.Star Cebu news article and the letter do not present any evidence to prove malice on the part of Remonde when he wrote the letter.

It added that it was not "willfully and purposely to injure her reputation, or to impeach her honesty, or to hold her up to public ridicule."

The prosecutor also ruled that the accusation of Castro on Remonde sending the letter to Sun.Star Cebu for publication was a mere speculation.

"Her averment that she was told by a Sun.Star Cebu reporter that the news company obtained a copy of said letter directly from the Office of the Press Secretary cannot establish whether or not it was Secretary Remonde who actually had the letter faxed to Sun.Star," the resolution said. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)