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Jinggoy refiles bill to decriminalize libel

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

07/12/2007

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has reason to give due course to the prayer of National Press Club member Toto Causing for the preventive suspension of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) officials and officers to assure the public of a truly impartial investigation of the graft case filed against them for alleged violation of Republic Act (RA) 905 (which is said to be akin to landgrabbing).

Aside from the GSIS president, others included by Causing, a former deskman of People’s Tonight, in his complaint, are Bernardino Abes, chairman of the board of trustees; Victoria Ablan, trustee; Jesse Andres, trustee (chief of staff of Vice President Noli de Castro); Raymundo Lapating, trustee; Esperanza Ocampo, trustee; Reynaldo Palmiery, trustee; Alejandro Roces, trustee; Jesus Santos, trustee (lawyer of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo); Nita Javier, trustee; Estrella Elamparo, GSIS chief legal counsel; Arni Mercado, vice president; and Claro Florez and Dominador Bornasal Jr., both GSIS lawyers.

In the graft complaint he had filed last week, Causing called on Gutierrez to order their preventive suspension in order to stop them from tinkering with vital evidence which could prejudice the outcome of the case.

Causing accused them of culpable violation of RA 905 for illegally causing the cancellation of the Torrens Title of the land of the NPC (TCT 38690), located at the foot of Jones Bridge in Intramuros, Manila, that was donated by the Philippine government for them to put up their building, and having it transferred to their name as evidenced by TCT 265236 which is now in their possession.

According to the provisions of RA 905 which was promulgated by Congress in 1953 and signed into law by then President Quirino, said property would automatically revert back to the state once the NPC is dissolved or if the NPC declares it has no more need for the land.

Also, as per Section 3 of RA 905, it is expressly provided that the title to the land conveyed to the NPC “shall not be transferred by the said club to another person without previous authorization by the President of the Philippines.”

So how was the GSIS able to come by TCT 265236? Did they secure the approval of the President as per RA 905 prior to having the land titled in their name?

This makes us wonder if the GSIS lawyers are acquainted with legal dictum DURA LEX SED LEX. Under this principle, the Torrens Title to the NPC land which they are holding is void ab initio since they had violated RA 905.

Commission on Elections Chairman Ben Abalos Sr. is chafing at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for urging Mrs. Arroyo to overhaul the leadership of poll body for the failure to conduct clean and honest elections as shown in the May 14 electoral exercises.

Abalos and colleagues Rex Borra, Romeo Brawner, Nicodemo Ferrer, Florentino Tuason and Rene Sarmiento were particularly incensed by the two-page pastoral letter issued by the CBCP for Malacañang to institute long-anticipated electoral reforms starting with the dismissal of Abalos, et al. and replacing them with officials who had “unquestioned integrity and competence...” as this was tantamount to a collective slap on their faces.

“Unfair” was how Abalos reportedly reacted to the stinging rebuke coming from several influential church leaders because the Comelec was never given the opportunity to air the side of the commissioners prior to the issuance of the damning pastoral letter.

Unfair? What the hell is Abalos talking about? In the first place, it was the height of naivete for Abalos and company not to have seen the CBCP letter coming from a mile away. Just what did they expect anyway, a medal? It took them all of two months to finish the counting. And what of the 299 victims of election-related violent incidents as declared by the Philippine National Police?

In the 2004 elections in India which has a voting population of about 700 million, poll officials needed only around four days to complete the tabulations and declare all the winners. This is simply miraculous, if we are to compare them to the Philippine elections.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (bless his soul!) has beaten our friend Sen. Francis Joseph Escudero to the draw in filing a bill seeking the decriminalization of libel. In doing so, Estrada said the existing libel law, which was enacted by the Philippine legislature in 1930, is outdated, excessive and unreasonable and should be amended in order to stop powerful individuals from using it as a convenient tool to suppress the media who criticize them and expose their illegal or immoral acts. Estrada said the penalty for libel should be limited to mere fines, not imprisonment, as it is done in progressive countries.

Escudero had vowed during an episode of the weekly Meet the Press program of the National Press Club just before the May 14, 2007 elections that he would work for the decriminalization of libel. So now, we’re just hoping he helps Jinggoy with the passage of the bill, which he termed back then as a “social contract” he intended to pursue to its logical end.