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Saturday, August 05, 2006
Ted files 3 counts of libel, Cheryl 5 more v. HP’s Dignos
By Aledel Gonzalez-Cuizon Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo “Teddy” Ouano filed at least three counts of libel against broadcaster Joash Dignos of radio dyHP, after he allegedly named the local chief executive as the protector of the shabu laboratory in Barangay Umapad.
Ouano said he decided to file the charges against Dignos because the latter brought up the issue even if Ouano was already
cleared in an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a congressional inquiry in 2004.
In his complaint, the mayor said that Dignos “invented facts and commented on facts so invented, with apparently no other intention but to discredit, defame and dishonor me and my family.”
“Dignos would wash his hands by declaring that these were only rumors or reports in the shape of hearsay, but Dignos, by effectively circulating said defamatory imputations and asserting them as truths of his own knowledge, is liable for libel,” the mayor’s complaint stated.
The complaint cited Dignos’ programs last July 19, 20 and 21.
In his July 20 program, Dignos discussed the involvement of a politician in the shabu laboratory, which authorities raided in September 2004.
“Malagmit ang dudahan gyud ani niya’s taw, matod pa, usa na gyud niana nga mamahimo sang kadudahan. Matud na nila mga higala, ang mayor ninyo diha dakbayan sa Mandaue (One of the things that people suspect is also something controversial. According to them, my friends, it is your mayor in Mandaue),” they quoted Dignos as saying.
“Di ba kaha kuno ikaw matod pa nila usa sa nagproteher niadtong maong mega shabu laboratory diha sa dakbayan sa Mandaue (They say you could be the protector of the shabu laboratories in Mandaue City),” Dignos also reportedly said.
Accompanied by his wife, Linda, the mayor filed his complaint at the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday afternoon.
More
His complaint was filed together with that of his daughter-in-law, Cheryl Ouano, who lodged five additional counts of libel against Dignos.
Cheryl filed three counts of libel against Dignos last week after he allegedly maligned her in his program, “Birada.”
In her new complaint, she cited Dignos’ programs last July 12, 18, 19, 20 and 21.
She said that the broadcasts suggested that she committed adultery with her own father-in-law.
Cheryl is married to Teddy’s son, Alfred Francis, who sits as an ex-oficio member of the Cebu Provincial Board as president of the Philippine Councilors’ League.
Cheryl and Teddy used authenticated transcriptions of Dignos’ programs in their complaints.
In an interview, lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu said defamatory remarks can be conveyed through a question.
She described Dignos’ commentaries as distasteful.
She said that at the height of the shabu laboratory controversy in 2004, the mayor’s camp didn’t sue those who linked him to the facility because they preferred to air their side in the congressional inquiry and the DOJ investigation.
Code
According to Dalawam-pu, the mayor didn’t receive any communication after airing his side before the two bodies.
Dalawampu said she was even mentioned in Dignos’ programs when he said that she is serving as legal counsel of the mayor and Calvin Tan, the alleged mastermind of the shabu laboratory.
She pointed out that she is Tan’s fourth legal counsel, after he kept changing lawyers.
Teddy’s complaint also said that Dignos’ commentaries have violated the Radio Code of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, which states that “public affairs programs shall present public issues free from personal bias, prejudice and inaccurate and misleading information.”
The mayor said that Dignos’ commentaries do not meet the standards set by the Radio Code.
“Said broadcasts were not the result of straight reporting and Dignos could not invoke the privilege of neutral reportage because unfounded comments abound in his broadcasts. Dignos’ questioned broadcasts were not based on established facts. In fact, his utterances and behavior on the airlane give an unmistakable impression that media is licensed to malign people,” the mayor’s complaint read.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 4, 2006 issue)
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