I AM writing this as matter of personal privilege.
“It should be noted that the respondent-appellant is a member of the press. As such, to guarantee his right to freedom of expression, he should have a leeway for a misstatement of fact as well as for misjudgment.
The Supreme Court in protecting the rights of the press even held, as follows:
“Even assuming that the content of the articles are false, mere error, inaccuracy or even falsity alone does not prove actual malice. Errors or misstatements are inevitable in any scheme of truly free expression and debate.
Consistent with good faith and reasonable care, the press should not be held to account, to a point of suppression, for honest mistakes or imperfections in the choice of language. There must be some room for misstatement of fact as well as for misjudgment. Only by giving them much leeway and tolerance can they courageously and effectively function as critical agencies in our democracy.
“This is the contention of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 11 in granting our petition for review on the libel case filed by this ‘former political has been’ against me for writing in what he (complainant) claimed as an alleged ‘libelous’ article two years ago. In his seven-page resolution, Aguirre pointed out that there was no malice when the respondent-appellant wrote the article in his column in Sun.Star Cebu.
The dispositive portion read; ‘Wherefore, in view of the foregoing disquisition, the petition for review is granted. The assailed resolution of the City Prosecutor of Lapu-Lapu City in NPS Docket V11-09-INV-14L-02564 to 02565 is hereby reversed and set aside. The City Prosecutor of Lapu-Lapu City is hereby directed to withdraw the information for libel against respondent-appellant Bobby G. Nalzaro and to report the action therein within 10 days from receipt hereof.
The case stemmed from my article on Oct. 25, 2014 entitled “Jonas’s offensive against Cebu City.” The contested portion read as follows, “Tomas is moving to sabotage Mike’s administration. Unfortunately, because of his obsession to get back at Mike, many innocent people got caught in the political crossfire. An example is OIC City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas. Tomas filed several administrative charges against her. Some of those cases were based on fabricated charges.’
This “former political has-been” filed two libel cases against this columnist. One was against the Cybercrime Prevention Act while the other one was against the Revised Penal Code. Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane designated then Lapu-Lapu City acting prosecutor Rodrigo Tagaan to resolve the case after this columnist, through his lawyer, Joan Baron, Sun.Star Cebu legal counsel, asked the thee-men panel created by Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office to inhibit from handling the case as they were perceived to be biased in favor of the complainant.
Tagaan dismissed the cybercrime libel for lack of probable cause but filed the libel case in violation of Article 353 in relation to Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code. The case was raffled first to RTC Branch 5 Judge Ricky Jones Macabaya, who issued an arrest warrant against this columnist. I posted the P10,000 bail for my liberty.
Judge Macabaya later inhibited from handling the case, citing his association with the complainant when he was still a prosecutor. The case was re-raffled to the sala of RTC Branch 23 Judge Generosa Labra, who conducted a preliminary conference for possible “settlement” of the case. But Labra also inhibited from the case, claiming she is a “close friend” to both parties.
The case was re-raffled to RTC Branch 18 Judge Gilbert Moises, who temporarily withheld the trial pending resolution of the petition for review before the Department of Justice.
And now, the much awaited time is here. Well, I don’t know if the other party will file a motion for reconsideration. That is his prerogative and the normal process in our judicial system.
(bobby@sunstar.com.ph)