Manila prosecutor summons Ping over Mike A’s libel case

Manila Assistant City Prosecutor Nestor Gonzales issued subpoenas yesterday to opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, his spokesman Lito Banayo and Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla in connection with the libel suits filed against them by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Lacson, Banayo and Remulla accused the First Gentleman of laundering money under the fictitious name "Jose Pidal." Mr. Arroyo retaliated by filing 10 counts of libel against them Wednesday.

In his subpoenas, Gonzales asked Lacson, Banayo and Remulla to submit their respective counter-affidavits on Sept. 15 in reply to the First Gentleman’s multiple libel suit.

Once Lacson and his allies file their counter-affidavits, Gonzales said he would begin the preliminary investigation of the charges filed by Mr. Arroyo by getting comments and evidence from both sides.

Although the personalities involved in the case are all prominent, the prosecutor said he will investigate the charges according to the issues, not the plaintiff and defendants’ popularity.

"Of course, the personality is not the issue here, but the offenses committed by the persons involved," Gonzales said. "This will be investigated just like an ordinary case. We’ll be guided by the issues."

As part of judicial procedure, Gonzales said, Lacson, Banayo and Remulla must appear personally before his office to swear in their respective affidavits.

The First Gentleman, meanwhile, need not be present at the office of the city prosecutor when the three accused submit their counter-affidavits, he said.

According to Gonzales, Mr. Arroyo’s personal appearance when he filed the libel charges and swore in his affidavit Wednesday was sufficient.

Libel is defined under Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code as a "public and malicious imputation of a crime, or a vice or defect, tending to cause discredit or contempt of a natural or juridical person."

The First Gentleman did not specify any amount of money to compensate the damage caused by what he referred to as the "baseless accusations" made by Lacson, Banayo and Remulla.

Although Lacson enjoyed parliamentary immunity from lawsuits when he delivered his privileged speech on Aug. 18 accusing Mr. Arroyo of money laundering under the alias Jose Pidal, the senator became liable for libel when he granted interviews with media after the speech.

Jesus Santos, Mr. Arroyo’s lawyer, said Lacson held a press conference about his Aug. 18 privilege speech the next day and that Banayo and Remulla repeated the contents of Lacson’s speech to media in separate incidents.

Remulla’s remarks to the press repeating Lacson’s accusations against the First Gentleman, Santos said, are also not covered by parliamentary immunity, since they were not addressed to Remulla’s colleagues in Congress or uttered in the performance of his duty as a legislator.

In filing the charges against Lacson, Banayo and Remulla, Santos said the three accused "have slung all sorts of unsavory remarks and have made all kinds of innuendoes against (Mr. Arroyo)."

Lacson’s privilege speech, Santos said, was a clear indication that he is obsessed with his presidential ambitions. "If I were Mr. Lacson, I will wait for the election and not resort to maligning the good reputation of a good man like the First Gentleman."

Banayo, on Aug. 20, "authored a libelous article entitled ‘Jose Pidal’," which was published in the regular issue of the Daily Tribune, a newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila, Santos said.

He said Banayo "also made false and malicious assertions against the First Gentleman in another column in the same newspaper on Aug. 22."

The acts of Lacson, Banayo and Remulla "of the publication of defamatory remarks against the First Gentleman are plainly and simply criminal and are not protected by (legislative) immunity," Santos said.