Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Seares: Is Saavedra getting away with libel? By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
IF you are a Gov. Gwen Garcia ally, you’ll probably hit the roof, as lawyer-consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda did after a panel of fiscals threw out her complaint for libel against businessman Cris Saavedra.
Rory Jon says civic duty is not a defense in libel, calling the dismissal “really crazy.”
It cannot be any crazier though than the fiscals’ ruling on the sexual abuse complaint against Fr. Ben Ejares.
They cleared Fr. Ben by saying the priest is Jesus Christ’s alter ego when he hears confession while fiddling with the penitent teenager’s bra and playfully touching her arm and neck.
The public hissed at the ruling that cleared Fr. Ejares. Would the panel’s finding for Cris be better accepted?
Pain reliever
On the case against Cris, the merits of each side can be argued to the point of nausea about who is right.
And fiscals, like judges, can always support the position they adopt. Asked as to who will win, a judge once said he still has to toss a coin. Kidding or not, whichever side he favors, he can supply law and facts to prop up his decision.
But check Supreme Court rulings and ask those who were sued by public officials for libel. Courts rule generally for the journalist or the whistleblower.
Unless the accused is recklessly malicious and defamatory, he walks. Besides, the aggrieved public official is supposed to carry a pain reliever called “balm of clear conscience.”
Some public figures, of course, human as they are, are not content. They want to hit back and inflict similar, or worse, pain on their tormentor.
