QC prosecutors junk late general’s libel raps vs Rabusa

MANILA, Philippines—The Quezon City prosecutors office has junked the libel complaint against a former military budget officer filed early this year by the late Defense secretary Angelo Reyes a week before Reyes shot himself.

In a three page resolution, assistant city prosecutor Ralph Michael Cataquiz dismissed the complaint against Colonel George Rabusa as the family was no longer interested in pursuing the case.

The assistant city prosecutor pointed out that the complaint only included the transcript of the allegedly libelous interview shown on ANC and not the footage of Karen Davila’s interview with Rabusa.

“Since only the transcript was submitted, and not a video copy of the alleged interview, a fair and objective assessment of the interview cannot be made to determine the presence of the elements of libel,” the resolution read.

Reyes had filed the complaint against the former budget officer a week before he shot himself while at his mother’s tomb, in the midst of controversies surrounding the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He lodged the case against Rabusa, who alleged in a TV interview that even Reyes’s wife had received money for her personal travels.