|
Tuesday, October 09, 2004
Ouano to file P100M libel suit v. DOJ official
By Rose O. Versoza with Aledel G. Cuizon
CEBU CITY -- "Pained" by the accusation that he owns the warehouse that had been used as a shabu factory, Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano said he will sue Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and a newspaper for libel and damages amounting to P100 million "unless they immediately rectify the wrong" done to him and his family.
"My family's honor is now being unfairly ruined," Ouano said Friday afternoon at a press conference that was attended by his family and lawyers.
He denied ownership of any of the four warehouses in Barangays Umapad, Paknaan, Looc and Tipolo.
In Friday morning, he opened the warehouses owned by his family to inspections led by Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Rolando Garcia.
Ouano and Garcia were guests at the blessing of the new Opao Police Station. After the ceremony, Ouano volunteered to have his three warehouses in Opao inspected to prove that he had nothing to hide. A few hours later, the mayor's brother Rafael also opened his warehouse in Opao to a similar inspection.
The mayor had signed an executive order requesting the owners and lessees of warehouses to allow the inspection of their facilities and help "curb and deter illegal activities" especially involving the manufacture and sale of drugs.
In other developments:
* Deputy Ombudsman Primo Miro said the fact-finding investigation headed by Ombudsman Director Virginia Santiago will include the angle on the ownership of the warehouse.
* Kamatuoran Inc., a nongovernment organization, began a prayer vigil outside the Caps 'R' Us compound in Umapad to show its support for the government agencies "who did a good job."
* Masses will be held outside the shabu laboratory at least twice daily. Fr. Vic Labao, the group's founding president, said that everyone is invited to the vigils and activities but politicians are not allowed to grandstand.
* Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia showed her support for Ouano by postponing her diving in Gilutongan Island Friday morning to make a side trip to Mandaue City, where a ceremony was held for the turnover of leased vehicles to the Mandaue City Police Office.
At the press conference, Ouano presented the property's tax declarations and land titles that bear someone else's name, and not the Ouanos'.
Lawyer Mario Ortiz, who leads Ouano's legal panel, said they have a prima facie case for libel and damages against Gonzalez and Cebu Daily News (CDN) because the statement that Ouano owned the warehouse has no basis.
"I believe that Secretary Gonzalez will have to answer this. I do not think at this point that he really made such a statement but, since he is quoted in the Cebu Daily News without reservation as having been the source of that news, he has to be included in the complaint for libel and damages amounting to P100 million, which is not enough to assuage the honor and shame of the Ouano family," Ortiz said.
Ouano has signed the affidavit-complaint against Gonzalez, CDN publisher Eileen Mangubat, editor-in-chief Ivan Suansing and editorial director Thea Riñen but has yet to file it.
"The article was irresponsible journalism because the report was not verified," the mayor said.
His daughter Lollipop Ouano-Dizon told Sun.Star last night that they were still securing from the National Telecommunications Commission the tape record of Gonzalez's radio interviews, where he allegedly made similar statements.
She added that they were still producing the money for the filing fee, which would amount to more than P1 million.
In an interview with radio dyLA Friday, Secretary Gonzalez said he received report that the Ouano family owns a warehouse that is near a wharf, which is also owned by the Ouano. The suspects allegedly rented the warehouse but it only contained sacks of imported dog food.
"But it (the report) did not mention that there was a drug factory inside. I don't think the drug factory was in that area because it's located in one compound. It could not be this one, that should be made very clear," Gonzalez said.
The Ouano family will meet Saturday to discuss this matter and solicit funds from family members and their supporters, she said.
In the meantime, a rectification of the story as a condition to not pursuing the filing of charges is left to Secretary Gonzalez to do, lawyer Ortiz said.
"We believe that a just man like him, he was misquoted, wrongly quoted or distorted by the media, by the press, in this particular case, the Cebu Daily News. We hope he would immediately rectify such an error and would be man enough to apologize for the wrong that was done," Ortiz said.
He said Gonzalez could even be used as a witness against CDN.
If Gonzalez apologizes and corrects the report, Ouano said he will discuss with his family whether to pursue the case against him and the local daily.
Lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, who is also in the Ouanos' legal panel, said other shabu laboratories were also found in Cavite, Parañaque, Quezon City, Antipolo, Valenzuela and Bulacan but none of the mayors there were ever condemned.
She said the raid in a warehouse in Antipolo last Nov. 21 yielded 1,070 kilos of shabu and 7,295 kilos of various chemicals, which is much more than those found in Mandaue.
"I ask, in the other LGUs, did they do this to the mayors there? It's as if Mayor Ouano is the drug lord," Dalawampu said.
She also challenged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to find out why the drugs managed to enter Mandaue.
"Why don't we focus the issue on the shabu? Why do we have to sidetrack to the mayor? Are they trying to protect people involved in the drugs," Dalawampu said.
She said focusing the issue on the mayor is "a ploy to take away the attention from the case."
As for Gonzalez's statement that he had written the mayor asking him to explain why Mandaue City officials did not detect the shabu laboratories, Ouano said he did not receive such letter.
Also, the mayor is not under the jurisdiction of the justice secretary so he has no authority over him, Dalawampu said.
"We need officials who are prudent and responsible. This is the height of imprudence and irresponsibility. The damage is done and the people who have done the damage should be made to answer," Dalawampu said.
Also present during the presscon were Ouano's wife Linda, daughter Lollipop, sons Alfie and Jonkie, Provincial Board Member Victor Maambong, Dalawampu, Ortiz and lawyer Felipe Velasquez.(With KNR)
(October 9, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
