Gwen to take stand in libel case hearing

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is set to take the witness stand during the next hearing of the libel case she filed against columnist Leo Lastimosa before the Regional Trial Court. The case stemmed from Lastimosa’s column in this newspaper last June 29, 2007 entitled “Si Doling Kawatan.”

Garcia’s lawyer Rory Jon Sepulveda said that to have the governor herself as prosecution witness was already the original plan of the legal team.

Sepulveda did not appear as counsel during the hearing yesterday when columnist Pachico Seares of Sun Star Daily was presented as prosecution witness and Lawyer Lito Astillero stood as counsel of Garcia yesterday in the sala of Judge Rafael Yrastorza of Regional Trial Court Branch 14.

Sepulveda explained he did not want to be there because he wanted to erase the perceived hostile feeling of Seares against him or to Rep. Pablo John Garcia, brother of the governor, or to the governor herself.

“I’m not saying he might have any hostile feeling but some of our members of our legal team ingon nga ayaw lang kay they could sense daw that Seares is not that receptive of me, and worse, Seares and my good friend Pablo John Garcia is not also cordial ang relationship,” Sepulveda said.

He said that it was a legal strategy on their part to have Astillero represent the governor because he is not that much identified. 

“Kung ako unya ang mo-direct (cross-examination) kang Atty. Seares, kung tinuod unya na ang apprehension sa uban nga dili siya receptive sa ako, dili nya kaayo forthright ang iyang answer, magkasungki na noon mi,” Sepulveda said.

It was lawyer Celso Espinosa who made the cross-examination of Seares as to the absolute identity of Doling.

In his column, Seares wrote “Fifteen students yesterday read Leo’s column in a Media Issues class at UP and were asked if they could identify Doling as Gwen. Nine said yes and five said no and they explained why.”

“We presented Seares because he was there, he was the teacher, the revelation of the nine is not hearsay for him, he wrote the observation of his students,” Sepulveda added. 

Meanwhile, the president of Cebu Media Legal Aid (CEMLA), lawyer Elias Espinoza manifested his support for Lastimosa.

“We support Leo and assisting Celso,” Espinoza said, adding that the essential element of libel is the identification of the victim.

“The identity of the victim must be firmly established and this character named ‘Doling’ described in the column was not identifiable,” he earlier said.

Lastimosa said the support of CEMLA makes him proud to be a member of the media. Garcia filed a libel case against Lastimosa after she felt alluded to in the column reportedly referring to the irregularities in the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center.

The next scheduled hearing is set for March 2, 2012. —(FREEMAN)