CamSur gov, PDI writer sued for libel

Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymond “LRay” Villafuerte was charged on Friday with libel by a former provincial board member who had earlier filed a string of graft cases against him.

Carlo Batalla, 54, filed the libel complaint against Villafuerte at the Makati Prosecutor’s Office.

The case stemmed from a July 22 Inquirer article titled “Gov cries extortion on cases filed vs him,” wherein Villafuerte revealed what he said was an attempt by Batalla to extort money from him in exchange for the dropping of charges he had filed against the governor.

Batalla also included Philippine Daily Inquirer researcher Schatzi Quodala in the libel complaint. Quodala wrote the story, which was based on an interview with Villafuerte, who came to the Inquirer office on July 21 to “air his side and clear any misinformation” regarding the cases against him.

Villafuerte, in a response e-mailed Saturday to the Inquirer, said: “The case is part of another desperate harassment effort by Batalla against me. To date, he has filed nine nuisance suits, seven of which were summarily dismissed for lack of merit. The libel suit will suffer the same fate. On my part, the lawyers are readying extortion charges against him.”

“Batalla has strings of criminal and administrative cases pending in the Ombudsman. One case has already been forwarded to the Sandiganbayan for litigation,” Villafuerte added.

Batalla recently filed with the Ombudsman a complaint of malversation of public funds against the governor, claiming that Villafuerte approved the provincial government’s purchase of P20 million worth of fuel in 2010 from Petron Fuel Express, which was not delivered.

“In the news article, Villafuerte made it appear that I am an extortionist and that I am being paid by other politicians in order to institute charges against him,” Batalla said in his complaint-affidavit.

“To be branded an extortionist and as someone who is being used by another politician is very insulting,” he said. “No self-respecting and respectable person will be pleased when such labels are tagged on him. The imputations were clearly intended to cause me dishonor and discredit.”

Batalla denied Villafuerte’s allegation that sometime in 2009, he met with then provincial budget officer Fortunato Peña, now incumbent vice governor of Camarines Sur, and his cousin Nonoy Magtoto, in a restaurant in Naga City and asked for money in exchange for dropping the charges against the governor.

“It’s just a figment of his [Villafuerte’s] imagination,” Batalla said, adding that it was public knowledge in Camarines Sur that during his stint as a provincial board member, he always condemned the irregular and anomalous transactions that Villafuerte allegedly entered into.

Batalla is also asking compensation in the amount of P5 million from the respondents, saying his reputation had been tarnished because of the allegations.