Blogger of 'rotting' relief goods charged

MANILA, Philippines - A female blogger, whose piece she posted on her website had caused a stir in the distribution of relief goods to victims of typhoon Ondoy last year, has been charged with libel.

In a referral letter to the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, the National Bureau of Investigation filed the libel complaint against the blogger upon the request of former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral for the malicious imputations she has written on her website. The NBI said the blogger, who wrote about the alleged undistributed relief goods left “rotting” at a DSWD warehouse, has been using few aliases such as “Jade Ceres Dolor,” “Jade Ceres Violet Dolor,” and “Ella Rose de los Santos.” The blogger claimed to be a book author.

“The article alluded that she (Cabral) and the DSWD employees are corrupt, having diverted donated goods for personal gain at the expense of the typhoon victims, and downright incompetent,” the NBI stated in its referral letter.

In October last year, a blog post from an alleged volunteer of the DSWD circulated all over the Internet, claiming that relief goods have been “rotting” inside the warehouse. The “Blog ni Ella” entry titled “Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo, (of what is the fodder if the horse is dead),” posted in her website www.ellaganda.com, asserted that every Filipino has the right to know where the tons of allegedly rotting relief goods donation by the United Nations and other countries go. She even asked help “to spread the word,” urging readers to link her post to their blogs, websites, and Facebook accounts, etc. The blog entry also contained uploaded photos of imported blankets and mats supposedly donated by foreign agencies stored in the alleged DSWD warehouse.

Malicious imputations

Cabral denied the accusations indicated in the blog and subsequently sought the help of the NBI to investigate the identity of the blogger. Cabral maintained that the blog entry contained “malicious imputations” against her, the DSWD, and its employees”

Consequently, the NBI learned that one of the volunteers who helped in the repacking of the relief goods at the DSWD was a certain “Ella delos Santos.” She, was eventually subpoenaed by the NBI to give her side of the story and to take a polygraph test.  However, the NBI said she never showed up on the dates scheduled for her appearance.

The NBI also checked with the hosting company of the domain name of the blogger’s website and found out that the hosting contract with “Ella Rose de los Santos” or “Ellaganda” has been terminated since December 2008.

Another check with the publishing company, which allegedly published the blogger’s book, disclosed that “Ella” and “Jade” – “are one and the same person.” Moreover, the NBI discovered that the blogger never visited the warehouses personally, and that it was another person who actually took the pictures uploaded in the blog.