Libel case vs ABS-CBN execs, talents OK’d

THE Court of Appeals gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) the go-signal to file the libel case against officials and talents of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. for accusing GMA Network of stealing its exclusive video in 2004 about the return of an overseas Filipino worker who was taken hostage in Iraq.

In a two-page resolution, the appeals court’s 10th Division through Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta, Jr. denied the motion for reconsideration filed by ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III, and several executives and talents of the network that sought the reversal of its June 9, 2014 decision.

The June 9, 2014 ruling of the appeals court dismissed the bid of ABS-CBN to nullify the findings of the DOJ that they should be indicted for libel.

Aside from Lopez, the DOJ also ordered the filing of libel case against ABS-CBN senior vice-president Jose Ramon Olives, vice-president for news operations Jake Maderazo, former ABS-CBN vice-president for news operations Luisita “Luchi” Cruz-Valdes, assistant vice president for news operations Jose “Jing” Magsaysay Jr., news operations director Alfonso “Pal” Marquez, supervising producer Maria Progena Estonilo Reyes, reporter and anchor Lynda Jumilla, executive producer of the now defunct program “Insider” Lilibeth Frondoso, executive producer of “Magandang Umaga Bayan” Annie Eugenio, executive producer of “News Patrol” Dondi Garcia, Luis Alejandro and former ABS-CBN news anchor Erwin Tulfo.

The appeals court added that the arguments raised by ABS-CBN were mere reiterations of arguments raised in their petition for certiorari.

“When the Court calibrated the current papers from the parties, we can hardly ignore that the arguments put forward by petitioners on their motion for reconsideration were a virtual echo of the discourse on the petition for certiorari,” the appeals court said.

“Withal, the ideas expressed by movants were tackled by us when preconditions for defamation were discussed on the decision itself…Accordingly, we hereby deny petitioners’ motion for reconsideration for lack of persuasive force,” the CA added.

The libel case stemmed from ABS-CBN’s allegation that GMA Network stole its live newsfeed of the arrival of overseas Filipino worker Angelo Dela Cruz at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on July 22, 2004 after he was released by his Iraqi captors.

The footage was aired by GMA News in its Flash Report but GMA Network’s footage was taken from Reuters Television Service (Reuters), with which GMA had a subscription contract for videos.

After the video airing incident, ABS-CBN, in its now defunct shows “Insider” and “Magandang Umaga Bayan,” used the phrases, “pagnanakaw ng aming eksklusibong kuha” and “pamimirata ng footage” in their reports on the incident. One report further said “ang pagnanakaw ay isang malaking krimen.”

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Magdangal de Leon and Stephen Cruz. AC