Wednesday, July 23, 2008 DOJ moves to dismiss libel rap vs. Dosado
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has moved for the dismissal of a libel case against a former official for saying that Sogod town’s multi-million-peso water system is supplying contaminated water.
Assistant Regional State Prosecutor Vicente Mañalac, in his reinvestigation of a resolution charging former Sogod vice mayor Severino “Dean” Dosado with libel, said there is no proof Dosado “was motivated by ill-will when he made the statements.”
Mañalac said the statements Sogod Mayor Thadeo “Deo” Durano found libelous were not defamatory but merely an expression “of apprehension, doubt or worry by a concerned citizen.”
Mañalac said “it is not malicious or defamatory to express concern especially when the person making the statement intends to bring the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman.”
He said this shows that the person making the statement wishes that the matter be resolved “legally and properly in the proper forum.”
Official activity
“Comments and observations about public or government officials regarding their official activities should not be subjected to microscopic examinations to discover grounds of malice or falsity,” Mañalac said.
Durano filed the libel complaint against Dosado before the Office of the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor in January last year.
The two have been at odds politically, with Durano defeating Dosado during the last elections.
Durano asked the court P1 million in damages to “teach him a lesson.”
The complaint centered on a statement Dosado allegedly issued to another newspaper.
There, Dosado allegedly said the water being pumped out of the town’s water system had high levels of fecal coliform because town officials, including the mayor, pocketed large sums from the town’s P30-million loan with the Land Bank for the water project.
The complaint also cited a “malicious accusation” Dosado allegedly made in a television interview where he challenged the mayor to drink the town’s water and see if he doesn’t die from it.
Then, Durano said, Dosado continued his attack in a Sun.Star Cebu interview where he called the project substandard and claimed that the funds for the purifier, filter and the chlorinator were pocketed.
“My office has no hand in the release of the funds,” he said. (KNR)
