8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
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Vol. II No. 67 ISSN 2094-4098 September 19-25, 2011 P15.00
No libel can kill good ofcials
Page 7
Suckerpuncher
ByBERTENI TOTO
CATALUACAUSING
Yummy,Yummy
Shamcey!Page 8
HIT THESMUGGLERS,
NOT REPORTERS!
To page 2
Page2
Isko,
Jejomar
andtheir
dreams!
The
agony of
public
school
teachers
Page 5
Page 4
The day the untouchables died
THE day theuntouch-ables diedon No-vember 23,
2009 in the town ofAmpatuan, the world
substantially changedin the minds of Mus-lims and Christiansin the provinces ofMaguindanao, SultanKudarat, North Cota-bato, South Cotabato,Saranggani, Lanaodel Sur, Davao delSur, and elsewhere inthe Philippines.
Before going fur-ther, let it be madeclear that there is nointention of trying toinuence the ongoingAmpatuan MassacreTrial.
By HERNZ CUAREThe rst benet that
Filipinos got from itis the inculcation of anew general idea in theminds of Christian Fili-pinos in so far as Mus-lim Filipinos are con-
cerned, and in the mindsof Muslim Filipinos inso far as Christian Fili-pinos are concerned.
This general idea isthis: both Christian andMuslim Filipinos canbe united in a cause for justice against crimi-nals who belong to theirtribes.
Yes, the passion for justice was bolsteredin unison among theMuslims not allied withthe Ampatuans and theChristians whose heartswere revolting to the
most brutal-ever act ofpolitical violence.
But along with this
discovery of the sub-
ity, that those who used brutalities in murder-ing are in effect killing
themselves, too.
journalist were some ofthe untouchables whodied.
But on the very sameday they died anothergroup of untouch-ables also died, the
untouchable Ampatu-ans.
The honor, careerand everything the Am-patuan Empire so cher-ished also died. It waskilled by the 33 personsthey killed, the journal-ists.
Henceforth, it can-not be fathomed howthey can get back theircrown now being held by the husband of oneof the women theykilled. They can neverwin anymore in any gu-bernatorial election.
The brutal lessonhere is BRUTALITYBACKFIRES IN AMORE BRUTALWAY.
It is premised thenthat if the hands of
time are turned backand the Ampatuanswho are being pointedto as the murderersare made to choosebetween two choices,to kill brutally or bekilled brutally, theywill choose the latter.
Thus, the king-dom collapsed whenthe 33 journalistswere killed withoutmercy.
This is also whatis seen by the eyes ofa husband of one of
To page 4
Brutalitybackfiresin a more
brutal waystantive meaning of justice came the real-ization of one moreequally-important real-
The 33 media per-sons massacred on thatmost brutal episode inthe life of the Filipino
LEST before new Customs CommissionerRuffy Biazon forgets, make no law abridgingthe freedom of expression, of speech, and ofthe press.
This law covers not only journalists. TheConstitution protects all men in our land, even those
thou named hao-shiaos. This right is one of the high-est in the tier of freedoms, equal to the right to religion:the reason Congress and all other authorities cannotmake any rule or law to screen people wanting to ex-ercise the liberty of the press, the reason there is nolicensure examination for journalists. Otherwise, thatis prior restraint!
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
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2
Vol. II No. 67 Sept. 19-25, 2011
Publisher:
RONALDO E. RENTA
Editorial:
TOTO C. CAUSING
Editor-In-Chief
Design & Layout:
RONALDO B. HERICO
Disclaimer:
All news articles and opinions expressed by the writers
are entirely their own and do not reect the opinion of the
publisher, the management or the editor of this publication.
All Rights Reserved:
No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced
nor translated in any language or form for commercial pur-
poses without prior written permission from the publisher
and its writers or columnists.
MAGDIWANG
PUBLICATIONS
NO LIBEL CAN KILLGOOD
OFFICIALSDYARYO
Magdalo
decided topublish the
defense formediamen chargedwith two counts of
libel by a NationalBureau of Investiga-tion (NBI) official
who contended thatthe journalists hadmalice because they
did not print his side
when they publishedeven without com-
ments the contentsof the affidavit ofa person claiming
that this official gotmad over two attachecases of money dis-
tributed without hisgo signal.
By the way, is
there a rule that re-quires publication ofthe side of the parties
defamed by a newsstory? There is none.
In respect to thepreliminary inves-tigation, the names,places and events
were removed toavoid preempting the
handling prosecutor.Anyway, the purposeis to educate the
readers of one strong
If the dull and theignorant have the rightto be heard accordingto Desiderata, whatmore for the hao-shiaos of thou art?
Thy work is col-lecting the right taxes,not editing, not siftinghao-shiaos amongthose who present asmen of pen.
Thy duty is to catchall thieves amongstthe smugglers andCustoms men: Not tocatch the reporters whomay have sparked yourspark.
That is why they callit: Run after the smug-glers! and not Runafter the reporters!
At rst the edict ofRuffy came pleasing tothe ears. It is because Iknow there exist menof pen writing for badliving.
But thy hao-
shiaos do not do thebeginning, but by Cus-toms mens dirty livingand smugglers endlessurgings.
Ruffy needs notght reporters hedeems hao-shiaos.Else, he will be sur-
prised even the purestof pens in his sightturns out the dirtiest ofem all.
I begin to see, therst victims are thosesuspects whose weeklymagazines are usedfor weeklys.
But what is the dif-ference between these
weeklys on one sideand the pens that writeforInquirer, forPhil-ippine Star, forManila
Bulletin, forManilaTimes, for theJournalgroup of newspapers,forMalaya, and forTribune, or the so-called tabloids on oneside?
He must be aware,thieves come in manyforms. But amongst them,the dirtiest in appearanceare the least lethal; themost decent-looking arethe deadliest.
This is not the issue,Ruffy.
It is: How can youstop Customs men from
living with smugglerswho call themselvesbusinessmen?
Take out all theCustoms men and placenew men. Shocked youwill be. You see allreporters, including thyhao-shiaos leavingto nd greener pastureselsewhere for a living.
Brute it may be, thereality is this: There arehao-shiaos or what theycall pseudo-journalists.But they were born outof bad Customs menwho make them live. Ifyou take out the bad andreplace them with the
good, thy hao-shiaoswill vanish.
Lest you forget, Ruffy,politics thou art to poli-tics returnest. It was notspoken of thy soul.
We have yet to seea politician as a man ofsteel. Any politician ishungry for good public
perception even if he
says he has no greedfor money. Hunger forgood image is hungerfor peoples votes.Hunger for votes ishunger for more pow-ers. Hunger for more
powers is greed, noless.
Lest all men be told:It is not money that is
the root of all evil. Itis greed.By thou records,
Ruffy, there are 400 ra-dio, tv and newspaperreporters, columnistsand editors visitingCustoms. Thy wonderis those missing vansand cars not seen orwritten by them.
Lest thou be told:many bosses who came
before proclaimed thesame. They ended upeating their words.
Lest thou be told:It is not the letter thatkilleth! It is the spiritthat giveth life!
Kung walangkorap, walang hao-shiao!
Kung may ma-tuwid na daan, may
baluktot din na daan.He who walks in
silence reaches thedestination earlier thanhe who trumpets hiscoming.
defense against libel.
Nature of news-
papers: they dont
publish
history
First, in treatingcriticisms in newspa-pers, the basic rule of
prudence and dili-gence for any publicofficer should be to
react with restraint of
outrage, keep a thickskin, and respond to
the news articles bysending his repliesand evidence of his
replies.This should be the
rule because it is a
normal habit of lifethat mistakes cannotbe avoided in daily
publications of news-papers where theessence of the busi-
ness is freshness inthe news and where
newspapers areindispensable in anydemocratic countrybecause press free-
dom is a touchstoneof democracy.
To be scooped out
by fellow newspa-pers is the biggestsin, next to plagia-
rism. Also, it is the
unbending rule innewspapering that
any story that cannotbe published im-mediately becomes
history and there areno newspapers thatreport history.
True enough, thenewspapers that car-ried that affidavits
contents are the firstto publish the claim
of bribery to muddlea highly controver-sial murder case.
Given the nature
of newspapering, itmeans that the onlyway for press free-
dom to flourish is togive allowance formistakes that hon-
estly occur in thenormal processing ofnews facts into news
stories. Precision isimpossible in a quickspan of time needed
for news stories to bepublished.As soon as any
news facts are gath-ered, the rule is theyshould be published
in the first publica-tion issue availablewith the minimum
requirement that ef-forts should be made
to get the sides ofthe persons whomay be affected by
the reports. If therewas no way to getthe side of persons
affected, the newsfacts gathered mustbe published or they
become history.In short, the
public officials must
understand how anynewspapers thrive tokeep the real mean-
ing and substanceof press freedom ornewspapers will die.
To wait for thecourt to proclaim theguilt of public of-
ficers will take years
before one news
story can get pub-lished.
In addition, thereis no law that re-quires the taking
of the side of thepersons mentionedin any news facts
before these can bepublished. Thus, thecomplainant as a
public officer cannotcomplain if his sidewas not taken and
not published along-side. Earnest effortto get the reaction
of affected personsis enough to com-
ply with the rule ofimpartiality.
Officials in side of
truth: Honor cannot
be destroyed
After all, therewould be NO DE-
STRUCTION OFHONOR that would
happen on any offi-cer as a result of thepublication of a newsstory even if his side
was not printed. Allhe needs to do is toask for the publica-
tion of his reactions.No amount of
negative publicity
can destroy a good-and-gentleman of-ficer. All he needs to
counter the negativereports is to publishthe truth of his de-
fense. He may seek
publication in thevery same newspaper
that published thenegative imputations,or in any other news-
papers, or post it onFacebook, Blogspot,Wordpress, or on any
other online web-sites.
If the complain-
ant is the one who istruthful in his claim,he should not waste
time to cause thepublication of his
side.
Report of official
proceedings defense:
lack of malice
Nevertheless, ascrutiny of the two
news stories ver-ily shows that THEMATTERS IN-
CLUDED IN THEBODY OF THESTORIES ARE THE
VERY CONTENTSOF THE AFFIDAVITof a suspect in the
murder of broadcastjournalist.
This affidavit
was submitted tothe Department ofJustice as OFFICIAL
counter-affidavit
in the preliminary
investigation.A comparison of
these stories withthe affidavit showsthat THE STORIES
DO NOT ADD TO
THE ALLEGA-TIONS STATED IN
THE AFFIDAVITOR DO NOT MAKEANY COMMENT
THEREON ANDTHEREFROM.
Now, there is no
issue that the affida-vit was part of the of-ficial proceeding for
the same preliminaryinvestigation that isnot of confidential
nature.Thus, this falls
within the second
sub-paragraph ofArticle 354 of the
Revised Penal Code,and as such there isno malice that can be
presumed by law.
Article 354 states:Art. 354. Re-
quirement forpublicity. Everydefamatory imputa-
tion is presumed tobe malicious, evenif it be true, if no
good intention andjustifiable motive formaking it is shown,
except in the follow-ing cases:
1. A private com-munication made byany person to another
Hit the smugglers ...From page 1
ByBERTENI TOTO
CATALUACAUSING
To page 4
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
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Sept. 19-25, 2011 3
Vol. II No. 67
TOO MUCH LOVEWILL KILL YOU By HERNZCUARE
TUMINGIN ka sa lan-git, kaibigan. Ang kapalat itim ng ulap. Kung
babagsak yan, babahang napakalaki, kayangtalunin Ondoy man oPepeng.
Gumawa ka na ng paraan. Lumayo ka saiyong kinatatayuan. Tu-makbo ka sa matataasna lugar, doon ka maisa-salba.
Iyan ang ulap ngkorapsyon, ulap ng
pagnanakaw, ulap ngmga ninanakaw, ulap ngkawalan ng katarungan,ulap ng kasakiman, ulapng pandaraya, ulap ngmaitim na kapangyari-han.
Lumisan ka kai-
bigan. Isalba mo angiyong sarili. Hikayatinmo ang iyong kapitba-hay, kaibigan at kamag-anak. Umakyat kayo samataas na lugar, doonkayo lamahok sa galawng pagbabago.
Lubog na ang ating bayan. Lubog na angating mamamayan. Lu-
bog na ang lahat sa atin.Pero nakakatawa pa rinang mga buwaya. Mag-isip ka kung kaya pa ba,ang ating bayan mais-alba?
Akoy may dalang balita, balitang pwe-deng magbangon sa atin
mula sa putik ng baha, balitang siya lamangang sagot sa ating mgasuliranin, balitang unti-unting aayos sa atinglipunan, balitang siyangtanging lutas sa lahat ngating suliranin. Iyon aykung ating pakikinggan.
Hinihikayat ko kay-ong pirmahan, itong
petisyon para sa kina- bukasan, petisyongmagbabago ng Konsti-tusyon, petisyong mag-
papatayo ng Hukumanng Mamamayan.
Ito ay tinatawag naTrial Jury, ito ay buuinng mga ordinaryong
mamamayan, para hatu-lan ang nasasakdal kungmay sala man, kahit sino
pa man.Ang mga ordinaryong
mamamayan, ang tunaynilang lakas sa Trial Jurymakikita, hindi matatakotkahit sa anong sakuna,hindi matatakot kahit sino
pa sila.Ang Trial Jury na ak-
ing inaadhika, ay siyangbuuin ng magbubukid mano magkakariton, jeepneydriver o tricycle driver o
padyak driver man, kungsaan dala nila ang kapang-yarihan, kapangyarihan ng
buong sambayanan, labansa mapang-api magingsino pa man.
Ang Trial Jury ay
hahatulan, kahit si Mike oMikey Arroyo man, hahat-ulan kahit si Ping Lacson,hahatulan kahit si Glorya,hahatulan kahit maya-man man, hahatulan kahitmakapangyarihan man.
Itong Trial Jury ay buuin ng mga tao, sa lis-tahan ng mga botante silamagmumula, kukunin silasa pamamagitan ng bu-nutan, itatago mukha nilaat pangalan, para kapakan-an nila at ng kanilang pam-ilya, ay mapapangalagaan,sa anumang pananakotat pananambang, ng mgaakusadong may kapang-yarihan o kayamanan.
Panahon na kaibigan,ating ibangon ang ating
bayan, mawala ang mgakurakot at pananakot, sahalip ang mga lingkod
bayan ay matatakot, dahilsila ay mahahatulan, kungsilay ay magpatuloy namangungurakot.
Panahon na isulongang malaking pagbabago,
para ang ating bayan aymagbabago.
Isulong mo kaibigan,ang aking panawagan, natayong lahat ay lalagda, saisang petisyong isasaba-tas, ang pagtatayo ng TrialJury sa Pilipinas.
Idagdag mo pa riyan
kaibigan, pagtatayo ngGrand Jury sa ating li-
punan, para kunin mulasa kurakot na piskalya o
prosekyutor o taga-usigang kapangyarihan, angkapangyarihan sa pagsa-sabi kung sino ang dapatkasuhan, at dinigin saHukuman ng Mamama-yan.
Ang Grand Jury kai- bigan, buuin ng mgaordinaryo ring mama-mayan, mula sa listahanng botante sila bubunu-tin, kanilang pangalanat mukha ay babalutin,
para hindi makilala ngsina mang kurakot atmayayaman, para hindisila mabibili o matata-kot magins sino pa man.
Ang Grand Jury angsyang maghahatol, angmaghahatol kung sinoang isasakdal, kahitsino pa man bastat maykasalanan, kasalananansa bayan at mamama-yan.
At kung meron nangGrand Jury kaibigan,wala kang dapat pan-gangambahan, sa lahatng hinahanap mongkatarungan, para maka-suhan ang sino na dapatkasuhan, maging siJoc-joc Bolante o MikeArroyo man, maging siMikey Arroyo o nanaynya man, maging si
Merceditas Gutierrezman.
Isulong, mo kaibi-gan. Isulong mo angTrial Jury, na siyang Hu-kuman ng Mamamayan.
Isulong mo kaibigan.Isulong mo ang GrandJury, na siyang hahatolna kasuhan at isasakdalang dapat isasakdal,maging si Gloria Arroyoman, maging si P-Noyman, maging sinuman.
Isulong ang TrialJury! Isulong ang Hu-kum ng Mamamayan!
Isulong ang GrandJury! Isulong ang Taga-using ng Mamamayan!
ISULONG MO KAIBIGAN,
HUKOM NG MAMAMAYAN!
THE lyrics
of the song
Too Much
Love Will
Kill You is
not only for reel butalso for real.
A pretty woman
loved too much her
handsome husband.
Im just the pieces of the man I used to beToo many bitter tears are raining down on meIm far away from homeAnd Ive been facing this aloneFor much too long
I feel like no-one ever told the truth to meAbout growing up and what a struggle it would beIn my tangled state of mindIve been looking back to fndWhere I went wrong
Too much love will kill youIf you cant make up your mindTorn between the loverAnd the love you leave behindYoure headed for disastercos you never read the signsToo much love will kill youEvery time
Im just the shadow of the man I used to beAnd it seems like theres no way out of this for meI used to bring you sunshineNow all I ever do is bring you downHow would it be if you were standing in my shoesCant you see that its impossible to chooseNo theres no making sense of itEvery way I go Im bound to lose
Too much love will kill youJust as sure as none at allItll drain the power thats in you
Make you plead and scream and crawlAnd the pain will make you crazyYoure the victim of your crimeToo much love will kill youEvery time
Too much love will kill youItll make your life a lieYes, too much love will kill youAnd you wont understand whyYoud give your life, youd sell your soulBut here it comes againToo much love will kill youIn the end...In the end.
TOO MUCH LOVE
WILL KILL YOU
She wanted back his
embrace after he left
her for another woman.
She tried so hard to
win him back. All her
efforts failed. Thisdrove her crazy and
pitying herself. She
found it was hopeless
for a hopeful reunion.
Too much love be-
clouded her. She lost
her reason.
She bought a gun.
She came to SM North
Edsa in Quezon City.Her husband was work-
ing there. She slipped
past security checks. In
front of him she poked
the barrel at him. She
pulled the trigger. He
was gone.
She poked the same
gun at her head. A
young security guardtried to stop her. She
instead shot the other
man, ending a young
mans dream to help
his father.
It was another story
of a crime of passion.
Sheila Macapugay,
25, of No. 364 Longos,
Pulilan, Bulacan, loved
no other man than her
husband Abel, 30. Her
love for him did not
fade although he left
her for another woman.
For eight monthssince January 2011,
Shiela persevered
from the absence of
Abel in the comfort of
their home. Day and
night bitter tears were
raining down on her
checks. In darkness
of her days, she faced
a deserted life with
tangled mind.
She examined
herself of where she
went wrong in surviv-
ing her marriage that
was perceived by her
family six years ago asone that was made in
heaven.
On September 15,
2011, Sheila composed
herself with determina-
tion to win back Abel
by hook or by crook.
Sheila wrote her
last will and testa-
ment to her parents,
asking them to take
care of her ve-year-
old daughter when she
would be gone.
Sheila then travelled
from home to QuezonCity to settle the nal
score between her and
Abel, and to retrieve
the love that was left
behind. But she was
sure of heading to a di-
saster being determined
to end her love and
after ending his life if
retrieving the lost love
turns to naught.
It was already 7:30
in the evening when
she arrived at SM
North EDSA. She im-
mediately proceeded to
the parking basement
of the mall to peace-
fully talk to Abel.
Sheila begged to
Abel to once more
bring sunshine to lightup their home and to
hear the laughter of
their 5-year-old daugh-
ter in his embrace. But
her pleas were gone
with the wind: Abels
heart was deaf and
dumb.
Their talks had in-
creased her ill feelings
of having been short-
changed, betrayed and
cheated.
For her second
albeit consolation
step of winning littlethoughts of Abel, Shie-
la asked for support
for their daughter. He
rejected her, reasoning
he had no nances to
extend his salary, being
a promodiser is not
enough to survive his
newfound love.
Their peaceful con-
versation turned rough.
Their love was further
buried by misunder-
standing. Her love was
now twisted by hate.
The pain made her
crazier, further feelingas being a victim of a
crime of love.
Outrage besieged
Sheila.
Crime of Passion
With tears on her
eyes, with no one to
turn to, Sheila opened
her bag and pulled out
the fatal weapon, a
.38 revolver that she
bought for P4,000.
Without a word, she
poked it at him, pulledthe trigger, and, bang!
Abel slumped to
the concrete oor with
bullet-hole on his head.
The wound drained
the power in him. He
pleaded, screamed and
crawled.
When Sheila saw
her blooded husband,
she poked the barrel of
the gun at her temple
to end her bitter life as
well.
But the high heav-
ens seemed not con-
vinced. It was the right
tempo to end the life of
the main character in
the tragic real-life love
story.
While in the actof ending her life,
security guard Ricardo
Inamac III who was
manning the parking
area moved in swiftly
and grabbed Shielas
hand that held the gun.
However, Inamac lost
his balance and fell on
the ground.
Sheila shot him on
his back and left thigh.
Before she can
make another deadly
move, security guard
Efren Sangcaya
grabbed the gun from
Sheila.
The victims were
brought to Quezon CityGeneral Hospital. They
both expired.
Psychiatrist Berna-
dette Arcena believes
Shiela was not in the
right frame of mind
when she did the
crime.
She said it was
pathological jealousy
that reigned beyond
reason.
Yes, too much love
will kill you in the end.
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Hernz quarry
By Hernani Cuare
4
Vol. II No. 67 Sept. 19-25, 2011
The agony of public school teachersTHEY sell anything to
students for a penny
gain.
They drown them-selves to shark loans
for food, shelter and
for their childrens
education.
The teachers are
gifted with wisdom
of planting the seed
of knowledge to chil-
dren, the countrys
future.
But it is impos-
sible for the teachers
to grow good seed-
lings when they lack
strength to water the
eld.
The teachersshould not be only
armed with knowl-
edge for there are oth-
er needs to satisfy the
prowess of teaching.
They can teach ef-
fectively when their
stomach is full; when
their family is rightly
fed; and when there is
enough nances to sur-
vive the long days be-
fore their monthly pay.
But instead of sus-taining the needs of
teachers, the govern-
ment is furthering their
agony and seemingly
not concerned with their
daily sufferings.
The administration
of President Benigno
Simeon Noynoy
Aquino III, by not step-
ping rst on shoes of
the teachers, instead
of increasing the al-
lotment for education,
limits the funds of pub-
lic schools.
PNoy has done an-other around.
But who are we to
judge PNoys wisdom
despite being his boss-
es, an accolade seem-
ingly done in words not
in deeds.
For the information
of the President, let me
share a piece of suf-
ferings of our public
school teachers.
The newly-hired
public school teach-
ers have to teach their
students without gov-
ernment assistance
for three successive
months. After three
months of teaching,
only then they will re-
ceive their salary.
In three consecutivemonths, the teachers
have to survive their
daily needs jeepney
fare, food, room rental,
and school accessories.
In this three-month
period, the teachers can
only survive by avail-
ing all kinds of loan,
including 5/6.
In surviving their
daily fare and other
needs, the teachers have
resorted to selling pea-
nuts, corn, candies etc.
to their students, gain-
ing P10.00 to P50.00 a
day.
By gaining a cent
from their student, the
teachers are degraded,
but they are left with no
choice.The Department of
Education or DepEd
prohibited the teachers
from selling anything
to their students, but
DepEd never responded
to their appeals to up-
grade their lives.
It is no good exam-
ple to young minds the
teachers are trying to
mold in a modest way.
But it is their only way
to inch-by-inch stand
without a shaking knee
due to hunger, thirst and
tiresome work.
On the day of receiv-
ing their pay, the teach-
ers are already indebted
more than their salary.
And to continuously
survive, the teachershave to avail another
loan with interest be-
yond repair.
If PNoy will not be-
lieve this, it is much
better for him to consult
his Education ofcials.
Frankly speaking,
my brethren are counted
with the public schools,
and they, too, had been
dragged to the same
streets of dire.
With the purpose ofcutting their monthly
room rental, the teach-
ers have to avail the
housing loan offered
by the HLURB. The
housing loan has to be
deducted from their
monthly salary.
When natural disas-
ter comes their way, the
teachers have to avail of
an SSS loan (Social Se-
curity System). What a
mess?
With this fact, the
teachers are already
buried six feet underdebts. They nd it hard
to lift themselves up
from their grave.
Theirs is no longer
the modest profession.
Pity them.
But there is some-
thing that the govern-
ment can do to honor
the teachers, not by giv-
ing them medals and
trophies but by in-
creasing their salary.
An increase intheir pay can lessen
their burden of send-
ing their children to
school.
Teachers as parents
never fail to say that:
Education is the only
inheritance that can
never be robbed, for
the same have been
proven in their lives.
The government
should not only invest
on the number of its
citizens for its useless
if they are illiterate.
As Francisco Co-layco said people are
an investment. But
they must be people
with education.
For education can
be a good capital in
business, and the
best investment for
employment for the
countrys progress.
From page 1
those who perished inthe infamous Maguin-danao massacre.
Policeman ElliverCablitas, the husband
of Mindanao Focuscolumnist Maritess Ca- blitas who was amongthose killed there, is sosure that if only his wifeand other reporters werenot killed, the Ampatu-ans could have beenstill there lording overall in sight.
In his words, evenif the entire popula-tion of a barangay ofMangudadatu familieswere killed, it will onlygo to oblivion and theAmpatuans would stillremain the kingsof
No libel can kill good ...From page 2
in the performance
of any legal, moralor social duty; and
2. A fair and
true report, made ingood faith, withoutany comments or
remarks, of any ju-dicial, legislative orother official pro-
ceedings which arenot of confidentialnature, or of any
statement, reportor speech delivered
in said proceed-ings, or of any otheract performed bypublic officers in
the exercise of theirfunctions.
GIJUMO defense:
Lack of Malice
Now, the offi-
cial proceeding isof extreme publicinterest because it is
one about the murderof a journalist andthe fact that this is
without doubt amongthe first of those mat-ters that interest the
people.The articles in
question are thereforeobvious to have beenmade to serve publicinterest. And if this is
so, then the intentionmust denitely be
good and the motivemust denitely bejustied.
The intention wasto make the publicknow what happened
in an official pro-ceeding for the mur-der of the journalist
to serve the interestof the public thathas been following
the developmentson this case. Thismeans these news
stories were madewith good intention.Now, the motive,
or the impellingforce that drove therespondents into
writing and publish-ing the questionedarticles, is the
desire to exercisepress freedom thatis inherent in every
journalist like therespondents.
Therefore, there
is no doubt that themaking of these sto-ries were done with
good intention andjustifiable motive.
Under Article
354, when the mak-ing of an imputationis shown to have
been done withgood intention and
justifiable motive
or GIJUMO (GoodIntention and Justifi-
able Motive), thereis no presumption ofmalice.
To stress, themain paragraph ofthe law reads: Art.
354. Requirementfor publicity. Ev-ery defamatory im-
putation is presumedto be malicious,even if it be true, if
no good intention
and justifiable mo-tive for making it is
shown, except in thefollowing cases
GIJUMO, or good
intention and justifi-
able motive, havingbeen established
there is then no
malice that can bepresumed under the
law.
Lack of presumed
malice: accusers bur-
den to show actual
malice
What does it meanwhen there is no
malice that can bepresumed?
If this is the case,
the burden of proofto prove probable
cause of ACTUALMALICE to justifythe filing of theselibel cases in court
rests on the shoulderof the accuser.
Scrutinizing thecomplainant for
libel shows not a
single evidence ofactual malice has
been produced.Actual mal-
ice means the actof publishing adefamatory imputa-
tion despite priorknowledge that theimputation is false,
or a reckless disre-gard of the truth orfalsity of the impu-
tation as if it wasstupid or foolish tobelieve in the facts
gathered.And if there is noproof of probability
of the element ofmalice, then there isno libel.
The day the untouchables ...nothingness.
With tears speak-ing, Elliver premisedthat if there was onegood thing that hap-
pened with the deathof his wife, it was thatthese martyrs also gavedeath to another groupof untouchables, theAmpatuans.
And if there wasanother thing that isa priceless reward, itis the priceless free-dom now enjoyed bythe Maguindanaoans,many of whom weresaid to have been mur-dered by means of cut-ting bodies in half withthe use of chainsawsin full view in public
plazas to give lessonsto those who may havethoughts of ghting theclan.
So proud of his wife,
Elliver told Dr. Anacle-to Toto B. Millendez,founder of BeautifulHeart Foundation, Inc.,that his belief is alsothe belief of anotherToto, who is nowMaguindanao GovernorEsmael Toto Mangu-dadatu.
Elliver recalled thatToto Mangudadatu wasconvinced that no onewould touch the jour-nalists because theyhave been untouch-ables in Maguindanao,Mangudadatu invited
them to accompany hismen, his wife, and histwo sisters in ling hiscerticate of candidacyfor governor of Magu-
indanao on November23, 2009.
But they werewrong.
The convoy were blocked on their wayto Shariff Aguak, forc-ibly brought to a re-mote place that no onewould ever come, killedlike shooting targetsof chicken with someheads blowing out, and buried in the most de-spicable way.
A backhoe markedwith letterings Prov-ince of Maguindanao,
Gov. Andal AmpatuanSr. lifted the cadav-ers from where theyslumped, poured themon two excavations
obviously prepared prior the abduction atthe checkpoint, andcovered the bodies andtheir vehicles with thesoil dug out from thesame holes. For ev-ery layer of landfill,the backhoe compact-ed the filling so thatthe vehicles would beflattened.
Elliver, however,slightly blamed Man-gudadatu for the deathof his wife and 57 oth-ers.
But he now chose to
thank the high heavenfor without the brutalevent, the killings inMaguindanao will nev-er end.
The most fearedwarlords of Maguin-danao, Andal AmpatuanSr., Zaldy Ampatuanand Andal AmpatuanJr., were pointed to asbrains of the massacre.
The Ampatuan clanhas been pointed tocountless of killings inMaguidanao for the last20 years.
He said the Ampatu-ans style of governancedubbed Own the Peo-ple is now a history.
And the gravest con-cern of Elliver now is
the fact that the literalmeaning of justice willnever come to him andhis family even after ten(10) years, pointing out
the snail system in thecountry like the count-less motions led by thelawyers of the Ampatu-ans. As this was writ-ten, the judge handlingthe case, Judge JocelynSolis-Reyes took a two-week vacation.
If there is one morething, this is an argu-ment in favor jury sys-tem of justice beingadvocated by Hukumanng Mamamayan Move-ment, Inc. (HMMI) be-ing led by Berteni TotoCatalua Causing.
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
5/8
Privileged spits
By Toto C. Causing
Sept. 19-25, 2011 5
Vol. II No. 67
Govt men are just that:Public property, nothing more
THIS is my Gover-
nance 101 course for
P-Noy and all other
ofcials, elected or
appointed!
If I were the Presi-
dent of the Philip-
pines, the top qualities
that I would look for
in choosing a per-
son to be appointed,
other than academ-
ics, work records, and
integrity, are: (1) he
or she should have a
thick skin; (2) he or
she must have a brave
heart; and (3) he or she
has the principle that
he or she is a pub-
lic property, nothing
more.
By having a thick
skin, he or she must
not be onion-skinned
that he or she does not
react wildly to any ac-
cusation.
By having a brave
heart, he or she must
be courageous in fac-
ing criticisms frontally
and do it by means ofwords against words
and not swords
against words.
By being a pub-
lic property, he or
she must abide by the
principle that his time
and body are owned
by the public and not
for his or her private
pleasures.
Correlating all
these qualities that I
would look for in my
appointees if I were the
President, I expect them
to be persons who be-
lieve they have no right
to complain even on the
harshest criticisms or
worst of falsities foisted
against them.
I expect my appoin-
tees know that from the
time of signing and ac-
cepting their ofce, tak-
ing their oaths, and en-
tering their duties, they
are a public property
and nothing more, so to
speak.
If they are a public
property, they have no
right to slap or punch se-
curity guards who may
have displeased them as
what was reported in the
news that Congressman
Pangandaman punched
a watchman, or as the si-
lence to Pangandamans
act as shown now by al-
leged congressman of
blue guards and tricycle
drivers who is Mikey
Arroyo, who was used
to quickly rebut witharrogance while a fake
Cinderella was still sit-
ting on the throne sto-
len not once but twice,
as actress Susan Roces
once said. The muteness
of Mikey is deafening,
even if the Wack-Wack
incident where the Pan-
gandamans went wild is
yet recent to forget.
As a public property,
public ofcials have
no right to manhandle
drivers and maids or
shout at kids knocking
on their car windows
for alms.
As a public property,
public ofcials have no
right to shout at waiters.
As a public property,
public ofcials have no
right to go to nightclubs
or gay bars.
Most above all,
public ofcials have
no right to complain
against public accusa-
tions.
The public owns
them and they must
be slaves of the public
and not be kings and
queens when their
works were put into
question.
And for being a pub-
lic property, they haveno right to take mis-
tresses or paramours
for they will only serve
as bad examples to the
people who idolize
them.
For being a public
property, they have no
right to play in casinos.
On casino, I should
lecture former gover-
nors Joel T. Reyes of
Palawan and Antonio
Carrion of Marinduque,
aside from demanding
from them to face and
ght with truth the ac-
cusation that they mas-
terminded the murder
of Palawan broadcaster
Dr. Gerry Ortega.
I should also remind
Vice-Mayor Isko More-
no of Manila that casino
is not good for him be-
cause a good mayor is
not like a mouse that
plays dirty when the cat
is away.
These slaves who
are a public property
must know that over and
above academic require-
ments is a moral resume
that can stand alone as a
total qualication.
On the qualities of
being thick-skinned and
brave-hearted, my bestexample is Dr. Rosario
Torres-Yu, a professor of
the Filipino department
at the University of the
Philippines Diliman.
Unlike Senator
Miriam Defensor San-
tiago who is perhaps
the best legal mind UP
has produced but who
led libel cases to fend
off criticisms, Dr. Tor-
res-Yu showed she is
not onion-skinned but
a woman with a brave
heart when she posted
her reply and explana-
tion right beneath the
blog story I posted.
The blog entitled
Ex-judge and winner
in Palanca prize for the
same category de-
nitely hurt Dr. Torres-
Yu. She was identied
by me as the one who
was a judge in Sanaysay
(essay) during the 2010
edition and a contestant
in the 2011 contest.
Torres-Yu won the
second prize in this
years category where
the chairman of the
board of judges, Dr.
Pam Constantino, was
Yus co-judge in the
2010 version.
But Dr. Torres-Yunever second-guessed.
She and Dr. Constanti-
no wrote their reactions
and explained in so gra-
cious and magnanimous
words--to the point of
debunking my facts.
I salute them.
They should be
emulated by our pub-
lic ofcialsnot the
kind who would react
like what Mikey did,
saying Prove it!; or
like the Ampatuans
did: Kill em all!; or
what Kalinga Gov. Jo-
cel Baac did: barging
inside the announcers
booth of dyRK, grab-
bing one microphone,
and smashing it on the
mouth of announcer Je-
rome Tabanganay.
To know the details
of what I am saying
about Dr. Torres-Yu and
Dr. Constantino, open
the website at http://
totocausing.blogspot.
com/2011/09/propriety-
issue-in-palanca-prize-
ex.html.
As people of deep
discernment, Dr. Tor-
res-Yu and Dr. Con-
stantino chose to con-
front accusing words
with gracefully-written
words.
Mr. Rosauro D. Bau-
tista, Head Agent of
the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) in
Puerto Princesa City,
must follow the exam-
ples of Dr. Torres-Yuand Dr. Constantino.
He should have not
led libel cases against
Police Files! Tonite and
X-Files publisher Joey
G. Venancio and editors
Jack Castillo and Becky
Rodriguez.
Instead, Mr. Bautista
should speak up and
have his mind published
to refute the statements
in the afdavit executed
by Mr. Percival Lecias,
an accused in the mur-
der of broadcaster Dr.
Ortega, which state-
ments were published
almost in toto by Ve-
nancio and company.
In that statement,
Lecias alleged that Mr.
Bautista got mad as he
was seeing money in
two attach cases be-
ing distributed inside
an NBI ofce on Taft
Avenue, Manila.
It was just a state-
ment sworn to by
Lecias, who is a co-
respondent of ex-
governors Reyes and
Carrion, and which
statements were led
ofcially by Lecias
in a preliminary in-
vestigation conducted
by the Department
of Justice to know
whether there was
probable cause that
Reyes and Carrion
masterminded the
slaying.
Venancio and com-
pany never said intheir news stories that
these statements of
Lecias are true. They
never made any re-
marks or opinions.
Mr. Bautista, you
are just a public prop-
erty, nothing more!
Perhaps, P-Noy
discerned more what
I mean when he issued
a striking statement.
KAYO, ANG
BOSS KO!
Isko, Jejomarand their dreams!
THE inaction of govern-ment on abuses commit-ted against our kababay-ans employed at ResortsWorld Casino remains amystery.
The workers are notonly fed with measly food,they are also forced to ren-der two (2) hours overtimework.
Now, the workers are
clamoring that they arenot paid with their MID-YEAR BONUS.
Counting a few monthsfrom now, CHRISTMASBONUS is for the giving,
but the MID-YEAR BO-NUS is not yet handed toResorts World Casino em-
ployees.The purported reason
of foreigners who ownRW casino is: The em-
ployees have committedunaccounted minor of-fenses.
Tsk tsk tskIt seems that we go
back in time, the time ofthe Spaniards. The Filipi-
nos are crushed underfootthe strangers in their ownnative land.
These foreigners aretaking away the gains ofour government-run casino.They are squeezing the ben-ets of their workers.
Will Congress not actto the plight of the Filipinoworkers at Resorts WorldCasino?
Is it true that the Hon-orable Tongressmen, este,Congressmen have swal-lowed their pieces of thecake?
We need your reply,Cong. Amado Bagatsing!
Vice Mayor Isko Moreno
prepares for 2013 polls?
A couple of days ago,our blog boys saw ManilaVice Mayor ISKO MORE-
NO at the second oor ofCafe Adriatico at 10:00 inthe evening.
Moreno was seen hav-ing a conference with FA-MILIAR FACES in Manila
politics, including olat, ste,LETLET ZARCAL, Ana-lyn Atienza and some iden-tied with the past Manilagovernment administration.
The Moreno DreamCore was sitting in be-tween two groups that the
blog boys perceived as peo-ple from the campaign andPR of his group.
Theyre not so BIG in
name, not so small, but notyet in an average status.Anyway, they chose clientswith balls, maybe for2013 elections.
According to our blogboys, the group was at theSECOND FLOOR of CafAdriatico. They were spot-ted by our blog boys be-cause the comfort rooms ofthe establishment are at thesecond oor.
It seems their confer-ence was very fruitful be-cause the smile faded noton Vice Mayor Iskos face,and it seems that it was hardfor them to separate ways
because the night was still
young.Just like the childrens
bedtime story that goes:Thats all for today folks.Lets wait for another storytomorrow.
See you then!
VP Binay capitalizes on
his being a Housing Czar
and Presidential Adviser for
OFWs!
Theres nothing wrongin dreaming.
As admitted by theconcurrent Vice-President,Housing czar and presiden-tial adviser on overseas Fili-
pino workers (OFWs), JE-JOMAR BINAY dreams ofthe presidency. Its hypoc-risy to say he has no plan.
But as of now, Binaywill perform his duties andresponsibilities in the gov-ernment.
But many observedthat Binay utilizes his posi-tions and functions to rein-force his dream a run for
president of the Republic in
2016.Speaking of his dream,
all we can advise: For themoment, can you please setaside your dream, VP JojoBinay?
Many perceive thatyoure only taking advan-tage of the circumstances.You are already known tothe voters. The people arecognizant of how you move
and think. They are aware ofthe objectives of your high-ly-publicized performance.They know of how wide andfar your foresight is.
Well, let me repeat:Theres nothing wrong indreaming.
But considering yourattitude, we think that yourwinning the 2016 electionsis vague.
In truth, we haventseen great ACCOMPLISH-MENTS of agencies youlord over.
Unsolicited advice: Ifyou can craft a comprehen-sive housing program for themasses, maybe, just maybe,
you can have an edge.
Dont worry Globe
Asiatique.
By the way, how areyou, ex-VP Noli De Castro?
VP Binay immediatelyabsolved ex-VP De Castrofrom the scandal involvinghis friend Deln Lee. Buthe swallowed his words the
following day.The second unsolicited
advice: Limit the exposureof your PR chief and cordonsanitaire Mr. JOEY SAL-GAGO, ste, SALGADO.It seems that his aura isNEGA to the media.
His presence might dragyou to naught.
Hanggang kailan matata-pos ang kalbaryo ng mgaairport police?
We have no clue of the plan of the Manila Inter-national Airport Authority(MIAA) to the airport po-lice.
They are working likecarabaos but there is nosystem in their compensa-tion.
Airport policemenworked 12 hours a day buttheir OVERTIME pay isnot yet paid for last month.Until now they have noCollective NegotiationAgreement (CNA).
We would like to
inform MIAA GeneralManager Jose AngelBodet Honrado that theairport policemen are notrobots. They are human
beings with families andneeds. They are eating,
paying water and electricbills, and sending childrento school. Others are sup-
porting their parents andbrethren.
They are not parasites.They are working to main-tain PEACE and ORDERat the NAIA.
Since they are not paidwith overtime pay, manyof them are now in heavydebts.
Jerrys Blogs
By Jerry S. Yap
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
6/8
6
Vol. II No. 67 Sept. 19-25, 2011
Simplifed Libel Law
in the PhilippinesBy BERTENI TOTO CATALUA CAUSING
L
IBEL is but a small part of the Revised Pe-nal Code of the Philippines. But it is com-
plicated as the rest of the provisions of
that law combined if we talk of untanglinghow to prosecute or defend successfully.
If it is hard to prosecute libel in court, it is equal-ly hard to defend libel during the preliminary inves-tigation stage and during the trial.
Many a Filipino journalist take the many libelcases led against them as badges of honor. They
believe they have nothing to fear about for no onecan prove malice.
The opposite is the truth.
With the present state of conservative thinkingthe Philippine courts have, many end up convictedfor insults that are actually opinions in themselves.The author has been campaigning for the decrimi-nalization of libel from the criminal statutes of the
Philippines, but he discusses this campaign in an-other book.
In the authors more than 20 years of experienceas a media man (as sportswriter, news writer, copyeditor, and news editor), more than a hundred casesof libel were slapped at him. All got dismissed incourts or prosecution ofces.
The brutal truth is that libel has been a favor-ite tool of the powers-that-be in getting back at orsilencing critics or journalists writing reports aboutinvolvements of public ofcials, public gures and
private persons who became subjects of even mat-ters that involved public interest.
Another worrisome fact is the increasing convic-tion rate and the increasing afrmation by the Su -
preme Court of these convictions.
In 2006 to 2007, convictions of three journalistsfound guilty by the trial courts of Makati and DavaoCities were afrmed with nality by the Court ofLast Resort on the basis of the opinions of the jus-tices that malice is presumed in the insulting wordsthat are in themselves opinions.
They say everybody is entitled to his or her opin-ion; but opinions that are scathing or one that is aname-calling do not sit well with the justices.
I am passionately against these convictions.These are a complete disregard of Article III, Sec-tion 4 of the Philippine Constitution that prohibitsabridgment of the freedom of expression.
Conviction on the basis of opinion is sickeningbecause to express is to make an opinion known.
Many have been charged, indicted, tried andconvicted because of opinions that touch theegos of the greedy and the dishonest who lookat themselves bigger than their actual reputa-tion.
I remember the case of Mr. Claudio Da-quer of Puerto Princesa who was convicted
by the RTC there for calling sports of-cial Arnie A. Grande as mokong,kuto, and gago. The NationalPress Club of the Philippines appealed
his case and it is still pending upto this writing.
The true denition of malice as an element of libel refers to imputations thatare false, and that the author published the same despite prior knowledge thatthese are false.
Opinion can never be proven false or true: they can only be proven wrong orcorrect. As such, it is anomalous for the Supreme Court to say there is malicein an opinion of a columnist if he writes that a lawyer is inutile or ignorant.Since opinions can never be false and malice is based on publication of falsities,opinions can never be malicious no matter how wrong.
Given this hostile environment for the press, the only precaution an ordinaryjournalist can do is to hide some facts, although doing this amounts to consent tothe wrongdoings. Withholding identication of wrongdoers or the wrongs doneis one of the best preventive measures owing to the fact of life that no one can
prevent any person from ling a libel case, with or without merit.
Now, the ling alone of a libel complaint is in itself prejudicial, let alone thefact that many journalists are poor to afford to hire a lawyer.
That is, even if to le a complaint is one thing and for the said complaint tosucceed is another thing.
But those who are brave amongst the press continue to defy the libel law andin so doing they have given a false impression to the world that the Philippineshas a free press.
Such that if it happens as always that many dissenting voices and words areheard or read in the Land of the Pearl of the Orient Seas, it is because of the dar-ing attitude of most media men, not because of the laws.
It is in this context that this Simplied Libel Law book has come to being.
My purpose is to give the daring and the brave among my brethren the neces-sary knowledge armory to ght those who abuse libel law. Another reason theauthor decided to write this is that it is a part of his advocacy to set up a societyof a totally-free press, a society where libel is not a crime, but only a civil disputeto be resolved between the libeled and the libeler.
Libel law traces its roots to the common law for one purpose: to protect theking or queen, the source of power in the olden times.
During those times when the rule of the monarchs were absolute, they had thepower to decide what should be the laws, the power to execute or carry out thelaws, and the power to judge as to how to interpret the laws they made and howto apply the laws on the people who committed acts violating any of these lawsdecreed by the kings or the queens.
In the present populist societies, there is no more room for the kings or queensto be protected. They have been relegated to symbols of their nations sovereigntyafter the unprecedented rise of populist ideas: that it is not the king who is theking but the people.
Among those demoted by circumstances to mere symbols of power are thequeen of Great Britain or the United Kingdom, the king of Spain, the king ofThailand, and the emperor of Japan. That is although there still remain todaykingdoms where the monarchs are still the rule: these are the sheiks or emirs orkings of the Middle East, some of them crumbled lately.
Such that if a libel law is by nature intended to protect the source of power,then it must protect the people because it is the people who are the source of
power in populist societies and not the government ofcials.
In a country like the Philippines, the people are the ones who decide whoshould lead them as president, and who should represent them in making lawsfor them. Unfortunately though, while the basic premise is that the source of the
power to judge and interpret the laws should be the people, the Filipinos do notactually decide who should sit as judges and justices: this should not be the case.
What should be the case is that the people should be the ones who shouldexercise their power to judge by electing their justices and judges or by the jurysystem, where their representatives randomly picked from them sit as jurors tohear and to say what really are the facts in the cases.
And if the Filipinos have a jury system, it is for sure that the libel law will be-come extinct as what happened when the jury nullied the libel law in the famoustrial of John Peter Zenger in the State of New York in olden times when the statewas yet a province of Great Britain.
The jurors in Zengers case fell for the arguments of his lawyer when he said
Chapter I
Introductionthat it is a civil right and duty of every citizen tocriticize civil governors, that freedom of expressionis like a great river that when you prevent it from
owing it will form a ood upstream and will wipeout everything in its riotous paths downstream.
Now, a question may be asked: Is it not properthat libel should protect the people because sover-eignty resides in them or that they are the source of
power?
But as it shows, the Philippine libel law protectsgovernment ofcials who are supposed to be onlyagents of the people.
This fact that the libel law actually operates toprotect the agents of the people is the reason that wecan always hear ofcials ling libel cases againstlowly media men. Although the cases led do notnecessarily result in conviction, the act of lingthem alone is enough to harass the journalists intosilence.
Once libel complaints are led, concerned journalists are compelled to defend themselves before prosecutors ofces that approve indict-ments in court even with the slightest probabilityof malice, compelled to face warrants of arrest
because of indictments that are almost expected,compelled to look for money for bail for tempo-rary liberty, compelled to undergo the prejudicialand oftentimes partial trial, and, if unlucky, ndsselves convicted by judges who yield to the urg-ings of high ofcials.
One thing more, inuential persons would in-voke the rule of sub judice that the accused journal-ists cannot write about matters related to the issues
being tackled in court while the case is pending;even if the issues involved weigh more for publicinterests.
Nevertheless, libel law has evolved from the17th century when English writer William Prynnsears were lopped off before he was imprisoned forwriting a book criticizing the queen. Today, this can-not happen.
Inspired by great thinkers like John Stuart Millwho espoused that the liberty of thought should beallowed to be freely expressed if only to get to thetruth, the pen of Justice Brennan in the landmarkcase of Abrams vs US, 250 U.S. 616 (1919) our-ished.
The veritable legal genius in Brennan dissentedby espousing the popular marketplace of ideas theo-ry, arguing that the best test of truth is the power ofthe thought to get itself accepted in the competitionof the market, that the ultimate good desired is best
reached by free trade in ideas. To page 7
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
7/8
Sept. 19-25, 2011 7
Vol. II No. 67
BY the time Iwrite this, prob-ably more thanhalf the peopleof the world al-
ready watched how FloydMayweather Jr. knockedout his opponent VictorOrtiz -- IN A REVOLT-ING MANNER!
But for those whodo not know yet whathappened, let me sum-marize it this way. Afterthe referee has deducteda point from Ortiz andwhile he was about tohug Mayweather, thelatter threw a punch onOrtiz.
In a split of a secondafter that punch, Ortizlooked to the left tocomplain to the refereewho was walking awaywithout seeing that
punch and without notic-ing the protest of Ortiz.
While not aware ofthis, in the same span ofa split of a second, Floyddelivered the knockout
blow.To visualize how it
happened, watch thisvideo: http://youtu.be/G6Knyu4-6wM.
To the mind of thisblogger, it is completelydespicable and revoltingto allow Mayweather totake the prize of tens ofmillions of dollars andthe welter champions
belt upon that atrociousact!
It was like shootingdead an innocent child.
It is more like a situationin a war where a soldiershoots at an opposingsoldier whose weapon isdown!
Associated Pressboxing writer Tim Dahl-berg wrote this: May-
FLOYD, RETURN THEMONEY & CROWN
ByBERTENITOTO
CATALUACAUSING
weather later engaged ina verbal confrontationwith HBO announcer
Larry Merchant, callinghim a name at one pointand drawing a pointedresponse from the vet-eran broadcaster, whosaid he would thrash the
boxer if he was 50 yearsyounger.
Floyd argued that itwas perfectly within thelegal bounds of boxing
to punch an opponenteven if the opponentwas not on guard. His
justification is that inboxing, any boxer insidethe ring must always beon guard.
Yes, Floyd got a
support from referee JoeCortez, who was quoted
by Dahlberg as saying:
Time was in, the ghterneeded to keep his guardup. Mayweather didnothing illegal.
But to the mind of thisblogger, while there isno written law to respectan opponent who forgets
to put his guards up or isso trusting in the beliefthat the opponent is a
gentleman, it is neverthe-less an act of cheatingto take advantage of thesituation.
In the Philippine civillaw, a person who acts todamage another is stillliable although it is his
right to do so.Additionally, this
blogger says without fear
that not one of the crowdor the audience some-where else in the worldwould have respect forFloyd after he ayed justto win.
If there is anythingelse to be said why Floyd
ayed, it is because ofFEAR.
Floyd is a COWARD,
no more.He feared to lose and
that fear is the reason heis always on the loose.
Let us see whattreachery would Floydshow if he ghts MannyPacman Pacquiao.
SUCKER-PUNCH -- Mayweather follows thru with a right straight to the face of Victor Ortiz that took the lights out of him thereby annexing theWBC Lightwelterweight crown. The punch came right after Ortiz apologized for the headbutting incident, drew much reaction from the boxingcommunity all over the world.
In 1964, the US Su- preme Court came upwith another landmarkruling in the case of
New York Times vs.Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254(1964), virtually wip-ing away whatever ves-tige libel had as a crimein the United Statesof America. It wasnot long after that thiscriminal law becameextinct in the land ofthe milk and honey.
The conclusion in New York Times caseis that public ofcialscannot sue for libel un-less they can show rsta prima facie proof ofactual malice, dened
Simplifed Libel Law in the Philippinesas publishing a defama-tory imputation despiteknowledge it was false,or a reckless disregard ofthe truth or falsity of the
imputation.
In 1967, the US Su- preme Court came upwith another landmarkcase in Curtis vs Butts,388 U.S. 130 (1966), forthe struggle for free ex-
pression and free press.There it was held thatlibel rules applicable to
public ofcers under thestandards of New YorkTimes is also applicableto public gures.
In 1974, another land-mark US Supreme Courtcase, Gertz vs Welch,
418 U.S. 323 (1974), waslaid down where publicgures were classiedinto three: (a) public of-cers; (b) private persons
pervasively known in acommunity such as ce-lebrities; and (c) private
persons who are not per-vasively known but whovoluntarily threw them-selves into the vortex ofthe controversy or thosewho voluntarily acted toinuence the resolutionof a controversy.
Since then, the Philip-pine jurisdiction adoptedthis postulate such thatit became the rule of theday in the Philippines.
The Philippines, how-
ever, mutated anotherdoctrine from public of-cers.
In Borjal vs CA, G.R.
No. 126466, January 14,1999, the Philippine Su-
preme Court ruled thatcommentaries on mat-ters of public interest arequaliedly privileged ifthey were inferred fairlyfrom reasonably sup-
posed facts even if suchfacts turn out false later.
If a writing is quali-edly privileged, the
burden of proof of mal-ice is thrown to the faceof the accuser.
Until today, the doc-trines of public gures
and fair comments arethe most effective de-fenses against libel casesled against journalists,editors, broadcasters and
others who write opin-ionated articles.
Other defenses may be lack of jurisdictionof the trial court and
prescription, which, inturn, simply means thatthe right to le a libelsuit is only one year and
beyond that period, rightalready expired.
Nevertheless, theauthor wants to pointout that the freedom ofexpression, of speech,and of the press is notan exclusive domain of
the journalists. The 1987Constitution of the Phil-ippines grants this free-dom to all people of anyclass.
How these doctrineswork and how the other
possible defenses makesome magic shall be laidout in detail in their re-spective chapters.
It is guaranteed thatit is easy for one whoreads this book to masterthe law of libel, its rea-sons and purposes, andits defenses.
This book devotesone chapter for theknowledge on how aneditor, reporter or any
writing enthusiast canevade and avoid get-ting charged in court
by the prosecutors forlibel.
It also devotes an-other chapter in sum-marizing the availabledefenses. Another isdedicated to a discus-sion for each of thesedefenses. One of suchlengths is also givento applications to eachof the discussions onactual cases, on thesurvey of the SupremeCourt decisions on li-
bel, on how to dealwith real issues in thenews desk, on what todo when a libel case isled, among others.
From page 6
8/4/2019 Dyaryo Magdalo (Sept 19-25, 2011 issue)
8/8
8
Vol. II No. 67 Sept. 19-25, 2011
YUMMY,YUMMYSHAMCEY!
Iam not con-
vinced Sham-cey did superblyto defeat theuniqueness in
the appearance ofMiss Angola.
Imagine, all elsewere white and shewas black and yet shehad the face equallybeautiful as the restand answer not leastas anyone else!
That rarity sealedthe crown for her!
If the answer ofShamcey were ex-traordinary, that was
the only way for her
to win.
But we Filipinosmust take comfortbecause Shamceyswin is an afrmationand a solidicationof a statement thatthe Philippines is afranchisee of a TopFive seat.
Remember that in2010 our very ownVenus Raj nishedFourth Runner Upand, on top of that,she has become sopopular in the worldand her memoriesstill lingered right
at the time the
nal questions were
thrown to the Fivenalists.Who would ever
forget Venus whenshe recited a majormajor answer?
Even Americanentertainment colum-nists, writers and talkshow hosts kept onrepeating and laugh-ing about the majormajor answer.
When Miss Mexicoappeared on NBCand was asked whatshe could say aboutthe major major
answer, the Mexican
turned out to be very
uent in English yetshe resorted to aninterpreter before sheanswered her nalquestion. Neverthe-less, the Latina de-fended Venus insist-ing that standing onthe world stage givesthe biggest nervousof life.
Nevertheless,Dyaryo Magdalotakes pride in Sham-cey, not only be-cause she is fromGeneral Santos Citythat is a neighbor
of South Cotabato
where the editor-in-chief of this paperhails from, but alsobecause both herfather, Kuya Tim, andmother, Ate Marcey,are his co-alumnifrom Mindanao StateUniveristy-Marawi.
All MSUans,including this author,campaigned hard tovote for her onlineto ensure that shewould be assured aseat in the Top Five.
And whatever thecute-and-innocent-
looking Black Woman
Miss Angola wouldsay, SHAMCEY ISYUMMY, YUMMY!
Shamceys boy-friend who convertedfrom a Catholic to aProtestant because ofhis love for her musthave won a One-Bil-lion-Dollar prize in theheart of the womanwho professed in hernal question thatshe would preferGod over the manshe loves if to marryhim demands her tochange her religious
beliefs.
If I were the onesto answer the samequestion, I wouldanswer: No, I wouldnot change my reli-gion. I would marryGod because He isthe man I love themost.
That answer ofShamcey, wittingly orluckily drawn for her,told of her real-lifelove drama with herboyfriend who hasforsaken his religiousbelief in favor of theYummy, Yummy
Sup Sup.
ByBERTENI TOTO
CATALUACAUSING
No, I would not change myreligion. I would marry God
because He is the manI love the most.
If I were to answer her question, I would say:
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