Contempt raps versus Lastimosa dropped

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court has dismissed the contempt charges filed against broadcast journalist Leo Lastimosa and lawyer Pachico Seares, editor of a local daily newspaper, which was initiated by the court.

Judge Raphael Yrastorza, Sr. of Branch 14 charged Lastimosa and Seares for indirect contempt after the two allegedly insinuated that he was biased in convicting Lastimosa of libel in a case filed by former governor and now Cebu third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia.

“The court is left with nothing to stand on in this contempt charges against the two respondents. Coupled with the fact that due to the passage of time the court have had enough pondering on the incident and had a re-thinking of its stand,” read the decision.

Yrastroza said that aside from the “passage of time,” he also considers other factors in dismissing the case.

“Added to it, the spirit of the season is in the air and the inconvenience in the new court setting at Qimonda somehow has dulled the enthusiasm of the court in pursuing this incident further,” he said.

August 30, 2013, Lastimosa was found guilty of libel over his Arangkada column published in The FREEMAN entitled “Si Doling Kawatan” in 2007. The column tells the story of a fish vendor who became rich after she entered politics.

Garcia filed the complaint after reading the article published in The Freeman on June 29, 2007 that she claimed refers to and maligned her.

Yrastorza meted Lastimosa a P6,000 fine with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency and ordered him to pay P2 million to Garcia for moral damages.

After he handed the verdict, Yrastorza read a newspaper column written by Seares comparing him and an associate justice of the Supreme Court who inhibited from the case questioning the constitutionality of the Priority Development Assistance Fund. Lastimosa, on the other hand, allegedly lambasted the judge in the former’s radio program and allegedly insinuated his link to the Garcias.

Yrastorza has maintained he was unbiased even when he was among those receiving allowance from the Cebu Provincial government, saying the amount does not influence his judgment and Garcia was no longer the provincial governor that time.

Lastimosa and Seares both denied Yrastorza’s allegation of Yrastorza, with Lastimosa arguing that he did not even ask for the inhibition of  Yrastorza while his case was being heard because he believed in him.

The conviction of Lastimosa is not yet final after he appealed his case before the Court of Appeals. —/RHM (FREEMAN)