Prosecutor upholds Mike Arroyo’s libel case vs Newsbreak; editors to post bail today

The editors of Newsbreak magazine released a statement today about a resolution by a Manila prosecutor upholding the libel case filed against them by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. The accused are scheduled to post bail at 2 p.m. today.

Statement

Dec. 14, 2006

On the Libel Suit of First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo versus Newsbreak

Yesterday, we received a tip that the Manila prosecutor had issued a resolution charging us with libel in the case of First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo versus the following from Newsbreak Magazine: Marites Danguilan Vitug, editor in chief, Glenda M. Gloria, managing editor, Ricky Carandang, former business editor, R.E. Otico, editorial consultant, Jose Dalisay, editorial consultant, and Booma Cruz, former contributing editor.

The resolution dated Nov. 13, 2006 and penned by Fredy Gomez, assistant city prosecutor (Manila), said that we, the accused, “meant and intended to convey false and malicious insinuations” against the First Gentleman, “imputed… a crime…” and therefore our story was “highly libelous and offensive and derogatory to the good name, character and reputation…of the First Gentleman.”

The resolution further said that the article was “solely prepared, written, and published by the accused for no other purpose than to impeach and besmirch” Mr. Arroyo.

The same prosecutor, in the information, said that our intent was to “expose” Mr. Arroyo to “public hatred, contempt and ridicule…” and that we were “clearly bent in destroying his reputation.”

Clearly, our story is not libelous. It’s amazing that we’ve been singled out for prosecution. The message we’re getting is this: no matter how responsible journalists are, you can no longer seek protection in the law.

It is quite unfortunate that the Manila prosecutor misunderstands the role of the press. Never in the course of our work do we write “solely to besmirch” the reputation of a person. Our foremost duty is to inform readers on issues that are vital to public interest. Mr. Arroyo is only one among many public figures we have written about.

We’re ready to face Mr. Arroyo in court. We worry, though, about the impact of this libel case on our profession.

Background:

The story referred to is a short “Inside Track” item (Dec. 8, 2003) following our cover story on the Arroyos’ undeclared properties in San Francisco, California (November 10, 2003). We said that in the course of our research on the California properties, we got leads from reliable sources about two houses, the addresses of which we provided, allegedly owned by Mr. Arroyo. We said that we searched the ownership and acquisition details of these properties but these yielded names that could not be linked to the First Gentleman. We said that our sources told us that the one who supposedly acquired the properties for Mr. Arroyo was a male relative of his who’s into real estate business in California.

The article was very transparent: we said these were leads and that we pursued them and stated our findings. Our cover story on the Arroyos’ undeclared properties in San Francisco provides proper context to this follow-up article.

Marites Danguilan Vitug

Editor in Chief

Newsbreak

0918-9126615

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Marites Danguilan Vitug
Editor in Chief
Newsbreak Magazine
Rm. 1402-A, West Tower
Philippine Stock Exchange Center
Exchange Road, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Philippines 1600
Cell phone no. (+63918-9126615)
Office tel. no. (632) 687-5523/(632) 687-5525
website: www.newsbreak.com.ph