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Libel case against mediamen dropped

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 15) — The office of the Prosecutor of Laoag City dismissed a libel complaint filed against three Baguio mediamen for insufficiency of evidence.

The case was filed by the wife of a former chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) against the three for publishing two articles that involved the family members of the former chairman, including her, in spurious issuance of ancestral land titles.

Named respondents on the libel case, docketed as I.S. No. 2004-2980, are Artemio A. Dumlao, Joaquin Cariño, and Merand Adchang, reporter, publisher, and circulation officer, respectively of the Skyland news, a newspaper of general circulation published in Baguio City. Dumlao is also a correspondent of the Philippine Star and chairperson of the National Union of Journalists (NUJP) of the Baguio-Benguet Chapter, an organization of media practitioners that considers libel as one form of harassment.

Laoag City Assistant Prosecutor Myra Shiela M. Nalupta-Barba issued the resolution dismissing the case on March 31, 2005 but was received by the Sanidad Law Office, the counsel of the respondents, on April 15, 2005.

History of the libel complaint

The libel complaint arises from two articles written by Dumlao and published by Skyland on its May 16 and May 23, 2004 issues where the said articles alleged that the members of Atty. David “Annab” Dao-as were beneficiaries of several Certificate of Ancestral Land Titles (CALTs) issued by NCIP. NCIP is a government office that issues ancestral land titles to different indigenous groups in the country. Dao-as was a former chairman of the NCIP.

The CALT issued to the Dao-ases covers parcels of ancestral lands in Mountain Province. Dao-as kin as identified by the Skyland articles are: Sonia, his wife, whose CALTs cover 10,250,00 square meters in Palitud and 9,000,000 square meters in Buringal, both barangays of Paracelis town; Norma, his sister, with a CALT covering 1,300,000 square meters land in Kayan, Bunga, Tadian; Veronica, mother of Atty. Dao-as, with a CALT covering 120,000 square meters of land in Mabisil, Sagada town; Ignacio, his father, with CALT covering 100,000 square meters of land in Banao, a controversial land between Besao and Sagada; Esther, another Dao-as sister, with CALT covering 180,000,000 square meters of land in Banias, Bontoc town; Edgar, another brother, with CALT covering 78,000,000 square meters of land in Mt. Amuyao, Barlig town; Ben Capuyan, a brother in law of Dao-as, with CALT covering 1,250,000 square meters in Camanotek, Sagada; Veronica, his mother, with CALT covering 150,000 square meters of land in Bantalaw, Sagada; and Belino Matib, whose relation with Dao-as could not be ascertained, with CALT covering 108,000,000 square meters in Tohoy, Natonin.

Articles tainted with malice

Sonia Dao-as in her complaint denied the truthfulness of the articles claiming that she was never an awardee of any ancestral land claim, contained the resolution. She added that the articles were allegedly written with malice as Dumlao “based his stories on photocopies of purported CALTs.”

The resolution quoted the complainant to have claimed that the articles were published without justifiable motive and that it put her in a very bad light as it tends to show that they took advantage of her husband’s former position in the NCIP.

Prosecutor’s resolution

The resolution, citing the revised penal code, enumerated elements that constitute the crime of libel, which are: defamatory imputation, which causes dishonor or discredit; malice, either in law or in fact; publication; and the victim must be identified.

The Prosecutor dismissed the complaint against Adchang as the circulation officer is not one of those enumerated in the revised penal code. The resolution claimed that circulation officer is not the editor or the business manager of the respondents’ newspaper nor the complainant failed to specify the functions of the circulation officer that make him liable for libel.

As to the allegation by complainant that the respondents printed the articles with malice, the Prosecutor cited that the complainant should establish malice in fact on a charge of libel involving a privileged communication which must be defamatory statements made with malice or bad faith.

The resolution citing Supreme Court decision added that malice in fact may be shown by extrinsic evidence that the defendant bore a grudge against the offended party, or that there was rivalry or ill-feeling between them which existed at the date of the publication of defamatory imputation.

The Prosecutor ruled that “the complainant failed to establish sufficient evidence that the publication of the two articles were attended by malice in fact.”

“The conjectures submitted by the complainant that should indicate malice in fact were effectively rebutted by the evidence submitted by the respondents,” ended the resolution. # Via NORDIS

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