The Bacolod City Prosecutor denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., on the five libel cases filed against him by Northbound Terminal operator Crispin Chua, after finding it not well-founded.

Earlier, it dismissed the complaint filed by Gamboa against Chua in a resolution penned by Associate City Prosecutor Maria Lina Gonzaga and approved by City Prosecutor Armando Abanado, after finding no probable cause for the offense of libel in the complaint he filed against the Northbound Terminal operator.

In his complaint, Gamboa said he felt maligned when on Jan. 16, 2014, Chua attended a public committee hearing at the Bacolod Government Center session hall to discuss issues on the operation of the Northbound Terminal.

  The libel complaint alleged that Chua said at the hearing that Gamboa was pushing for a “favored property” for the present terminal and sought a certain percentage commission on toll fees, gas stations and rentable spaces, among others.

In a resolution dated April 7, Abanado said that due to the voluntary inhibition of Gonzaga, he is constrained to resolve the pending incident, referring to the motion for reconsideration and inhibition of Gonzaga.

Records show that pursuant to the Resolution dated February 3, the complaint entitled:"Wilson Gamboa, Jr. y Coloso versus Crispin Chua y Coo, docketed as VI-03-INV-14L-1424", was dismissed, the resolution said.

Subsequently, Gamboa filed his motion for reconsideration alleging, among others, that the speeches and assertions of respondent Chua on January 16, 2014, during the public committee hearing of the Bacolod Northbound Terminal, a legislative inquiry into the issue is not covered by the exception provided for under Article 354 of the Revised Penal Code.

Abanado said that after a careful evaluation of the motion for reconsideration, he finds it not well founded.

He said the Supreme Court has held that, "a privileged communication should not be subjected to microscopic examination to discover grounds of malice or falsity. Such excessive scrutiny would defeat the prosecution which the law throws over privileged communication. The ultimate test is that of bona fides. (U.S. v. Bustos, 37 Phil. 331."

It is a rule that what is relevant or pertinent should be liberally considered to favor the writer, and the words are not to be scrutinized with microscopic intensity. (People  v. Aquino, 18 SCRA 555), Abanado said.

Meanwhile, Gamboa filed a petition for review before the Department of Justice on May 3.

He was arraigned on May 8 at the Regional Trial Court Branch 46 on five counts of libel and pleaded not guilty.

On July 31, a pre trial will be held and mediation will proceed.*CGS

back to top