Mike A sues Tatad, seeks P55-M damages

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo filed yesterday separate libel suits against defeated senatorial candidate Francisco Tatad and other members of the opposition for accusing him of being a "chief cheating operator" in the recent elections.

President Arroyo’s husband is also demanding P55 million in damages from Tatad and at least 17 others he named in five libel suits he filed before the Manila Prosecutor’s Office at 3 p.m. yesterday with his lawyer Ruy Alberto Rondain.

Mr. Arroyo took offense at Tatad’s statement published in the broadsheet Malaya, which contained an article describing him as the administration’s "chief operator" in alleged attempts to manipulate election results in favor of the President.

In an article published on May 19, Tatad said the President’s operatives for poll fraud were all over Mindanao.

"The article imputes that I have committed election offenses," Mr. Arroyo said in his complaint. "At the very least, it imputes acts... tending to cause my dishonor and my discredit. The article concludes that I was involved in election fraud in Mindanao and various locations in the country.

"I have done no act to manipulate election results and I am not acting under the administration(’s) alleged scheme to alter the result of the recent elections," he said.

The First Gentleman also said that "any implication that I am guilty of illegal acts is clearly designed to defame me. Having lost another bid for a Senate seat, Tatad has become a political irrelevancy."

Tatad’s "stabs at my honor are obviously designed only to make the news," he said, adding that Tatad made such statements to "avoid fading into oblivion."

Tatad was quoted as saying Mr. Arroyo was the administration’s "chief cheating operator" with the aid of military personnel and government officials.

The First Gentleman is demanding P11 million, including attorney’s fees, from Tatad, Malaya publisher Amado Macasaet, executive editor Enrique Romualdez, editor-in-chief Joy delos Reyes and Ma. Teresa Molina, Ronnie Advincula and Ellen Tordesillas.

He also filed another P11-million libel suit against Lito Banayo, spokesman of independent presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson, for accusing him of committing graft and corruption.

In his columns published in the Daily Tribune on separate occasions in July and August 2003, Banayo described Mr. Arroyo as "el esposo gordo (the fat spouse)," which the First Gentleman said is "obviously meant to denigrate me for my rotundity."

He also filed another P11-million libel suit against former Solicitor-General and defeated senatorial candidate Frank Chavez for accusing him of disbursing P728 million in agricultural funds to allegedly bankroll the campaign of the President and her allies.

Mr. Arroyo also filed an P11-million libel suit against Concepcion Paez of Newsbreak magazine for her description of Mr. Arroyo as "crooked" in her article published in the magazine’s June 7 issue.

He filed another P11-million libel suit against Newsbreak editors and officials, namely Marites Danguilan-Vitug, Glenda Gloria, Ricky Carandang, R. E. Otico, Jose Dalisay Jr. and Booma Cruz.