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Saturday, December 06, 2003
Radioman ordered to pay P76-T for libel
By Raquel C. Bagnol
A RADIO station manager in Davao City has been ordered by the court to pay a total of P76,000 in fines and damages for uttering libelous words against another broadcast executive in July 1995.
In a seven-page decision issued Friday, Judge Isaac Robillo Jr. of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 13 sentenced Macario Solis, alias Dodong Solis, of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Davao City for libel.
Court records show that at around 10 p.m. in July 21, 1995, Solis, who was then a broadcaster of dxDC-AM radio station, personally attacked Alexander "Peter Piper" Sam, station manager of another radio station.
Solis, in his radio program "dxDC Vigilantes Night Patrol", called Sam "ugok" (stupid), "tarantado" (fool), "hambog" (braggart), "pangit" (ugly), "bugo" (moron) and "talawan" (coward).
The verbal attacks stemmed from a dispute over a technical problem between the two stations, resulting in the signals of dxGM entering the assigned frequency band of dxDC. The problem was brought to the National Telecommunications Commission for resolution, but Solis attacked Sam in his radio program.
Sam recorded Solis' verbal attacks, which lasted for several minutes on tape and it covered six pages in Sam's affidavit.
Solis, however, filed a demurrer to evidence after the prosecution had presented its evidence because the entire tape and transcript of the alleged defamatory words were not translated to English.
The court erroneously granted the motion and dismissed the case against Solis in an order dated December 1, 2000. The court ruled then that the libelous broadcast should have been translated in English or Pilipino, which are the official languages recognized in the jurisdiction. However, the court reconsidered its earlier ruling, realizing that it made a mistake.
The court interpreter was directed to translate the radio broadcast to English.
Through the aid of his counsel, Ramon Edison Batacan, Solis filed a motion to suspend the hearing of the case because he intended to go to the Court of Appeals (CA) to question the court's ruling, but the CA dismissed his petition, continuing the trial.
Solis offered several exhibits to show that the case had already been dismissed, but the court ruled that Solis' radio broadcast during his program on July 21, 1995 was "without doubt, libelous."
The court also held that "the broadcast was motivated by hate and malice, and served no purpose but to malign the complainant".
Robillo directed Solis to pay Sam P6,000 as fine, P30,000 as moral damages, P20,000 as exemplary damages, and P20,000 as attorney's fees, totaling to P76,000.
Efforts to contact Solis proved futile.
(December 6, 2003 issue)
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