Lawyer Jose Max Ortiz yesterday said he is filing a multi-million peso libel suit against Negros Occidental Board Member Nehemias de la Cruz for statements he uttered against him over the radio.

Dela Cruz, when asked for his reaction, said tell him “Okay, he can do it.”

Ortiz said he is charging de la Cruz for libel for calling him “gago (stupid)”, “baldog (swindler)” for the way he has handled cases against San Miguel Corp. and Coca-Cola, and for alleging that he burned his own house in Don Salvador Benedicto as a political gimmick.

The lawyer said he would file the case before the Regional Trial Court of Bacolod as soon as he obtains a copy of de la Cruz’s interview from DYEZ.

Former Bunga Barangay Captain Ismael Delantar will also file a libel case against de la Cruz for saying that he got the wife of someone else, Ortiz alleged.

Ortiz said he also takes offense on the claim of the board member’s son, Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen de la Cruz, that his plan to run for public office in DSB is an insult to Salvadorians because he is not from the town.

Ortiz who is said to be eyeing the mayorship in 2013, pointed out that his house in the town was in fact burned.

Mayor de la Cruz took his oath as a member of the LP in the presence of President Benigno Aquino in Talisay City on Saturday.

Ortiz said it is an insult that de la Cruz took his oath as an LP member when it was only in DSB where Aquino lost in Negros Occidental in 2010. De la Cruz supported Lakas CMD presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro who won by 5,800 votes to Aquino’s about 2,500 votes, Ortiz said.

The mayor said the 2010 elections have long been over and it was not he who asked to join the LP, he was invited to be part of the party.

He said, the overwhelming number of votes he got in 2010 for himself and Teodoro shows that he is an asset to the LP, he can deliver the votes.

Mayor de la Cruz also said be believes he can make a contribution and be an asset to the LP.*CPG

back to top