Saturday, September 22, 2007 Nalzaro: Libel one of the hazards of the profession By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
TODAY is the culmination of the celebration of Cebu Press Freedom Week. As a member of the Convenor's Group, I say the celebration was fruitful, with media practitioners setting aside competition and joining activities that included forums, panel discussions, interactions and socials.
A party to be tendered tonight by San Miguel Corp. and Pepsi Cola at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) will officially end the celebration. Beat reporters will showcase their talents in a stage competition.
One activity I attended as a reactor at the Marcelo B. Fernan Cebu Press Center last Thursday was the discussion of media issues like libel and receiving freebies from news sources. The other reactors were Leo Lastimosa of ABS-CBN and Bobit Avila of the Freeman.
Lawyers Eddie Barrita and Haide Acuña, all active media practitioners, and RTC Judge Gabriel Ingles were the resource speakers. Jose Bayani Baylon, an executive of Coca-Cola, which sponsored the affair, also shared his views.
The discussions on libel stemmed from the cases filed against Avila and Lastimosa. Businessman Norberto Quisumbing sued Bobit for libel and civil damages for his articles criticizing the businessman for the takeover by Norkis Co. of a parcel of land owned by the Mandaue City Government. Gov. Gwen Garcia charged Leo with libel for his commentaries on the construction of the CICC.
Judge Ingles discussed the provisions of the libel law, its remedies and the venue. It seems that the venue in filing a libel case is not clear. Well, this will be resolved if Rep. Raul del Mar’s bill, which set the filing of any libel case in the place where the newspaper is printed and where the radio and TV broadcast emanates, will be passed.
But while libel is a legal remedy for an individual with gripes against some practitioners, it is also being used by some individuals to harass and silence the media. There are those claiming to be victims of media abuses who, even without enough bases, file libel cases against a media practitioner to prevent him/her from making further adverse commentaries against them. Worse, the case is filed in far off places.
But I view this as one of the risks of our profession. Of course, going to court is better than killing journalists, which is happening in other parts of the country. If a media person does not want to be sued for libel, then he should stop commenting. As they say, “If you cannot agwants, better discans.” Kun dili ka maka-agwanta, diskanso. (If you can’t take it, you better stop doing it).
In my 27 years as a media practitioner, I have been through a lot of challenges. I was physical harmed and threatened at gunpoint. Death threat is a daily menu for me. I was even a subject of an assassination plot by a criminal group and by religious fanatics.
I was charged with libel 22 times and cited for contempt of court by two judges who felt slighted by my commentaries. But I was cleared of all the charges and I am still here earning an honest living through this noble profession.
As for the two judges who cited me for contempt, one committed suicide while the other was dismissed by the Supreme Court because of some shenanigans. Mabuhi ang Cebu media!
