Nalzaro’s arraignment in libel case put on hold

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court will put on hold the arraignment of Pablito “Bobby” Nalzaro in the libel case filed by former congressman Tomas Osmeña until the Department of Justice rules on Nalzaro’s petition for review.

Osmeña has accused Nalzaro of maligning him in his newspaper column and after prosecutors ruled in Osmeña’s favor and elevated the case against Nalzaro to court, the latter sought refuge with the DOJ.

In a two-page order dated July 9, 2015, Labra said the suspension on Nalzaro’s arraignment and all further proceedings in his case will run for 60 days from the filing of the petition for review on June 4, 2015.

The arraignment is then set tentatively on August 17, 2015.

Judge  Generosa Labra

In his petition for review, Nalzaro said prosecutors erred in indicting him because there was no malice when he used the word “fabricated” in his column in another local daily, referring to the cases Osmeña has filed against Diwa Cuevas, officer-in-charge of the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office.

Nalzaro’s column reads: “Tomas is moving to sabotage Mike’s administration. Unfortunately, because of his obsession to get back at Mike, many innocent people got caught in the political crossfire. An example is OIC city treasurer Diwa Cuevas. Tomas filed several administrative cases against her. Some of those cases were based on fabricated charges.”

Osmeña said the article “unjustly imputes” that he fabricated charges against Cuevas. He further claimed that the administrative charges he filed against Cuevas were based on the 2012 and 2013 audit reports of the Commission on Audit.

In his resolution, Taga-an said Nalzaro’s argument is a matter of defense that must be established during the trial of the case, thus, the case should be elevated to court.

Nalzaro argued he cannot be held liable for libel because his column constitutes “fair comment on public officials and public figures,” hence falling within the concept of privilege communication. – (FREEMAN)