TALISAY City Acting City Prosecutor Raymund Gultiano has denied Acting Cebu City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro’s motion seeking to reverse the dismissal of the libel complaint against Provincial Board Member Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero.
In a one-page order dated Feb. 17, Gultiano denied Castro’s motion for reconsideration for lack of basis.
Castro accused Zaballero of libel, claiming that the provincial legislator sent her defamatory text messages in October last year. In her complaint, Castro asked the court to order Zaballero to pay her P50 million in damages.
Gultiano dismissed the complaint in a Dec. 23, 2015 resolution for lack of basis.
Castro alleged that Zaballero sent her text messages accusing her of taking the money of Leodegreco “Greco” Sanchez, whom the prosecutor married in a Muslim ceremony in August last year.
Greco and Grecilda are the children of late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez.
Gultiano’s December 2015 resolution stated that there is no sufficient evidence on record that it was Zaballero who sent the text messages and the phone used belonged to her.
The resolution pointed out that Castro’s friends, who reportedly owned the phones the prosecutor used to call and verify the sender of the text messages, did not execute affidavits to support the claim.
Gultiano said that the allegation that Zaballero sent the text messages were mere presumptions.
Sun.Star texted Castro for her reaction but she did not reply.