Newspaper publisher arrested for libel

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested a newspaper publisher for libel charges filed by former Rizal governor Casimiro Ynares nine years ago.

The CIDG-Detective and Special Operation Division (DSOD) arrested Jake Macasaet, 72, publisher and columnist of Malaya, at his Office in Port Area before noon yesterday.

The arrest was made by virtue of the warrant of arrest issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 36 Judge Emma Young last Sept. 1.

Sources said Macasaet requested the lawmen to allow him to attend a meeting at the Century Park Hotel in Manila. The police officers, led by Senior Superintendent Benedicto Gorospe, later brought Macasaet to the CIDG headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City for booking.

He was then brought to Young’s courtroom at around 3:30 p.m., where he posted a P10,000 bail.

Malaya executive editor Enrique Romualdez and editor-in-chief Joy de los Reyes are Macasaet’s co-respondents in the case.

Emmanuel Peña, a staff of Young, told The STAR that the complaint stemmed from articles Macasaet had written in 1999 about two cockfighting groups, one of which was allegedly headed by Ynares.

Macasaet said he does not know why a nine-year-old case has been revived, when his lawyer said a prosecutor must resolve a complaint within six months.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. pushed for the amendment of the country’s libel law following Macasaet’s arrest.

“The libel law has remained essentially unamended for almost 80 years. It is time to study possible amendments or to junk the law,” Pangilinan said.

Revilla, chairman of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, moved to speed up the debates on decriminalizing libel. – Cecilia Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez, Sandy Araneta