Zambales prosecutor junks cyber libel complaint vs Inquirer correspondent

The office of the Zambales provincial prosecutor dismissed a cyber libel complaint filed against Inquirer correspondent Joanna Rose Aglibot after finding no probable cause to bring the case to court.

Aglibot, who covers Zambales province, was named co-respondent in the complaint filed by Siegfred Gonzales, a village councilman in San Antonio town.

The complaint stemmed from a Facebook post about a news article shared by another respondent, who tagged Aglibot.

The article contained a report on the verbal assault allegedly committed by Gonzales against Aglibot and her family.

Marey Beth Marzan, associate prosecutor, said Gonzales failed to present evidence that the Aglibot was the one who circulated the report on social media.

Gonzales also failed to prove that he suffered damage due to the imputation of alleged libelous words against him, Marzan said in her resolution dated July 28.

Earlier, Marzan also dismissed a separate simple disobedience complaint that Gonzales filed against Aglibot for the same incident due to lack of evidence.

Prior to the dismissal of the cyber libel complaint, the village official also issued a public apology to the Aglibot family over the incident and asked for their forgiveness. INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

TSB