I got a copy the other day of an order from Judge Maria Filomena D. Singh of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court dismissing a libel case filed against me.

You wouldn?t know how relieved I was to get that copy. It was as if a thorn had been taken off my side.

I?m used to having libel suits filed against me. It?s part of the hazards of the trade. It?s also a result of the sometimes strong language I use in this column and in Bandera, Inquirer?s sister publication, to stress my point.

But having the husband of the President of the Philippines and your former bosom buddy file libel cases against you was not my idea of fair play.

For how could I stand a chance against the complainant who always gave his address as Malacañang Palace, Manila?

How could a judge hearing the libel case not be intimidated by the guy?s social status and his closeness to the most powerful person in the country?

Most judges aspire to become justices of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

And who?s the person who recommends them for such lofty positions? The President, of course.

I?m very thankful that an Invisible Hand, more powerful than even the most powerful worldly manipulator, has intervened.

Had there been no divine intervention, who could tell what fate awaited me and my editors, who were my co-accused in all the libel complaints filed by Mike Arroyo?

* * *

By the way, all the other libel cases filed against me and my editors by Mr. Arroyo have been dropped upon his request.

He has also dropped all the libel cases he filed against other journalists.

The reason he did that was not because he had an ?epiphany? or that he had suddenly acquired a forgiving heart toward his detractors in media.
Had Mike Arroyo pushed through with all those libel suits, it would have been very taxing for him. Fatally taxing.

* * *

I?ve been in journalism for more than 30 years.

I started out as a newscaster in radio, then became a radio-TV reporter, and finally, a newspaper reporter and columnist.

In all these years, I?ve never met a person who used his influence to the ?max? to harass his detractors.

I?ve never seen the Department of Justice, the prosecutors? offices, and the courts so fawning to a private, albeit influential, complainant.

I?ve never seen law enforcement agencies ? like the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation ? and military intelligence used so shamelessly to fabricate evidence and stalk a citizen.

I?ve never seen the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) used against businessmen-friends of an individual who dared to fight City Hall.

You would think that this country is Burma (Myanmar).

* * *

Remember Supt. Enrique Ancheta, Puerto Princesa City police chief, who was featured in this space March 18 for his alleged abusive behavior?
Well, the guy was reportedly involved in a gangland-style rubout of a crime suspect recently.

He and the cops he brought to the city from the Manila police allegedly killed a suspected petty thief in the city.

The victim was shot in the back.

I wonder what Ancheta?s benefactor, evangelist Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord Church, would have to say about the alleged ?salvaging??
Does Villanueva approve of it?

* * *

My friend, comedian Gary Lising, has come out with three books that will make you double up laughing.

The launching of his three books ? ?Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown,? ?Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask Your Children? and ?Confessions of the DOM (Delightful Old Man)? ? took place the other day at Powerbooks at Megamall.

Buy the three books. You will find all the jokes corny. He he he!