Libel draws P1-M in damages, jail term for reporter, editor

A Newspaper reporter and his managing editor drew prison terms and were ordered to pay P1 million in moral damages plus P50,000 attorney's fee for publishing two libelous articles against Gov. Erico Aumentado on Oct. 10, 2002.

Ordered by Presiding Judge Pablo Magdoza of Branch 48 of the Regional Trial Court of Bohol to each suffer imprisonment from six months and one day to four years and two months on top of the prison terms were chief of reporters Ven C. Arigo and managing editor Reynaldo "Reigh" Monreal of the Atong Balita Sano (ABS), a weekly newspaper edited, published and circulated in Tagbilaran City and province-wide.

The case stemmed from Arigo's banner story "Opisyal sa Kapitolyo, target sa NPA (Capitol official target of NPA)?" subtitled "Erico target sa NPA?" and another story, "Naglasalasa gyud diay ang P53-M equipment deal (The P53-M equipment deal is really greasy)?" that were published in the same issue.

In his eight-page decision, Magdoza found Arigo and Monreal guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of libel under Article 353 in relation to Article 354, 355 and 360 all of the Revised Penal Code.

To note, the New People's Army (NPA) had campaigned against Aumentado in previous elections by, among others, distributing leaflets that enumerated five reasons why the people should not vote for him. Samples of the leaflets are found at the mini museum of then Col. Juanito Gomez, previous commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade established at the brigade headquarters in Camp Rajah Sikatuna in Carmen town.

Among others, the governor earned the NPA's ire because he did not pay access fee or permit to campaign fee in areas allegedly controlled by the rebels.

Besides, the NPA's ambushed Aumentado on Feb. 13, 2004 - a Friday the 13th - as he left the Capitol after meeting the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) that he chairs. Bullets wheezed by the feet of his close in security officer and hit in several places the dark green Mitsubishi Pajero that was his service vehicle at the time.

The late Silvino "Ka Bino" Clamucha, then spokesperson of the Central Visayas Regional Party Committee (CVRPC) had claimed responsibility of the ambush.

Arigo however wrote in Visayan that "But there is doubt as to the truth in the reported inclusion of the governor in the hit list of the leftist rebellion since Aumentado himself has been constantly publicizing his programs for the 'forgotten' sector of the society."

"A few days before the unverified news about the list of the NPA, the administration of Aumentado was criticized because of, allegedly, conspiring with one of the quarry 'concessionaires' Domingo Chua, not from Bohol," Magdoza quoted the prosecution's evidence.

Arigo also wrote that "Rumors also emerged that during the recent election, Aumentado used the 'NPA' to accordingly threaten the voters."

But Aumentado said the published article reeked of malice. A lawyer by profession, he said he does not resort to terrorism, as this is a crime punishable by the Omnibus Election Code.

He said he did not have any understanding or conspiracy with Chua. While as governor he had exclusive authority to issue permits to quarry sand and gravel and other resources, he does not remember issuing one to Chua. The latter was already well established in the quarry business before he became governor so that Chua had no need to have any understanding with the complainant, Aumentado had stated in his affidavit.

In the same issue of the ABS, Arigo again maliciously attacked the complainant; he imputed graft and corruption on Aumentado.

"When the governor mentioned about 'kickback' in his letter, it revived the allegations of the contractors that there are some politicians who are receiving a 10% commission."

"If we are to make the accusation of the contractors our basis, the 10% of the P53 million earmarked for the 'road mechanism project' will reach more than P5 million - even if the 'winning bidder' will give a 'road roller' or 'grader' so that the transaction will push through, there would still remain millions [of pesos] in grease money," he wrote.

Aumentado said the article was opinionated and was a malicious imputation against him. He said Arigo twisted his letter to Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera dated Oct. 7, 2002.

Part of the letter reads: "xxx the acquisition of the equipment shall be through open and competitive public bidding to ensure transparency. For this purpose, I am requesting your personal active participation as PBAC [Pre-Qualifiction, Bids and Awards Committee] member in all phases of the process from pre-qualification to bidding and award."

"xxx Furthermore, to avoid suspicion of 'kickback', we may ask the winning bidder to donate instead an earth-moving equipment such as pneumatic road roller or grader, among others, to the provincial government."

Arigo's article however read: "After it was disclosed that Gov. Erico Aumentado wantet to buy a HAMM RACO soil stabilizer costing more than P53 million xxx The governor said Arigo's presentation made it appear that the desire to buy road equipment costing P53 million was his alone when in fact it was the strong recommendation of the Technical Working Group (TWG) headed by Provincial Board member Eufrasio Mascariñas. He said the HAMM RACO costs definitely less than P53 million.

Aumentado also said Arigo insinuated that he was going to make money out of the deal, thereby imputing on the complainant the commission of the crime of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

For his part, Butalid testified that after reading the articles, he found them derogatory to Aumentado.

In his affidavit, Monreal said he allowed the publication of the first article "because he respected Arigo's ability to write," and the second article "because it was written by Arigo."

Arigo failed to appear in court on the occasions he was supposed to testify, thereby waiving his right to adduce evidence in his favor.

Magdoza found all the elements of libel present in the instant case - defamatory imputation which tends to cause dishonor, discredit or contempt of another; publication of the imputation; existence of malice and the person defamed must be identifiable although it is not necessary that he is named.

A third co-accused in the case was former Gov. Rene Relampagos. For lack of probable cause, however, the case against him was dismissed.