Gov’t prosecutors give contradictory rulings on Camp John Hay tiff

BAGUIO CITY -- The law cannot be both right and wrong.

           

The state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority made this observation saying it noted contradiction in separate rulings of two government prosecutors on two libel cases filed separately arising from the same alleged offense.

The board of directors of the BCDA expressed its dismay over the ruling of the city prosecutor of Pasig that the BCDA board be charged with libel in connection with a published notice in a national broadsheet informing the public of a pending estafa case which BCDA filed against the Sobrepeña-led Camp John Hay Development Corp., the lessee of the former American military recreation center.

A similar complaint was also filed here and was dismissed by the acting city prosecutor of Baguio City last year

The BCDA, in a press statement said there was no malice, everything published in the advertisement were true, and done to protect public interest.

Former BCDA Chairman Felicito C. Payumo, now a candidate for congressman in Bataan said that being charged.

He said it would be suspicious if he were not included but the rest of the board members were charged.

“It would mean that I was not part of the serious efforts of BCDA to protect the interest of the government in collecting the P3 billion arrears of CJHDevco,” Payumo said.

He added that the P3 billion will go a long way to address the much needed concerns of the people like building more schools, hospitals and important poverty-alleviating  and people empowerment programs and projects.

The BCDA board of directors, in their press statement, said they respect the institution from which the decision came from and trust that the wheels of justice be put into motion and take its course that the truth may come out.

In his 11-page decision, city prosecutor of Pasig Jacinto G. Angruled that the BCDA board of directors “should be charged with the crime of libel.”

According to the resolution, the contents of the subject notice “tends to injure the reputation or to diminish the esteem, respect, goodwill or confidence” of the complainant.”

The complaint was filed by  CJHDevCo chairman Robert John L. Sobrepeña.

Both  BCDA  and Philippine Daily Inquirer executives  were cleared of the libel charges on the same notice in a similar case filed in Baguio City by the Sobrepeña-led CJHDevCo.

This is a case where two prosecutors read the same law but have two different interpretations, the BCDA said.

In his 17-page resolution, acting city prosecutor of Baguio City Elmer Surot ruled that the published notice hardly qualified as defamatory, “much more malicious.”       

He stated that the notice was made in furtherance of the public trust reposed upon BCDA directors and was supported by public records.

City Prosecutor Surot found nothing defamatory about the published material as these were fair and true reports of the fact that indeed BCDA filed an estafa complaint against CJHDevCo for having previously sold a property eventually used as payment to the government.

Further, the resolution stated that it was a fact that the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board issued a notice of violation against CJHDevco last 14 March 2012, that CJHDevCo paid its shareholders dividends in the years it claimed losses and asked to defer rental payments to government and that there were recorded complaints of business malpractices of CJHDevCo within Camp John Hay.

“A close reading of the articles clearly showed that respondents were just stating a fair and true report of [the facts],” stated the resolution.

The resolution added statements made by the BCDA directors were made to protect the corporation and the investing public.

The prosecutor ruled as a government agency, BCDA is justified to make such statements. “Such call is an exception to the presumption that every defamatory imputation is deemed malicious since it is “a fair and true report made in good faith without any comments or remarks … of [an] act performed by public officers in the exerciseof their functions.”

Surot said that since the notice contained statements based on public records and communications, this can hardly be considered to have been made with reckless disregard of whether they are false or not.

Last 10 April 2012, BCDA published a “Notice to all owners, lessees and buyers in Camp John Hay” in the Philippie Daily Inquirer.

The notice was made to inform the public of the pending estafa case which BCDA filed against CJHDevCo and of the questionable business practices within Camp John Hay. 

The published material disclosed that CJHDevCo paid its shareholders P928 million in the same years it refused to pay lease rentals to government allegedly because the lessee was suffering business losses. 

Earlier, theDepartment of Justice approved the indictment of BCDA chairman Arnel Casanova and other executives of the state-run firm over the P100-million libel complaint filed by CJHDevCo.

In an 11-page resolution released Jan. 11, the investigating fiscal found probable cause in the libel complaint filed by CJHDevCo executives over the BCDA advertisement published April last year that accused them of “double sale of a log home in Camp John Hay.” 

After a preliminary investigation, Pasig City assistant prosecutor Joselito de Asas held that the publication of the paid ad entitled “Notice to All Unit Owners, Lessees and Buyers in Camp John Hay” was malicious and deliberately aimed to smear the reputation not only of CJHDevCo but also of Robert John “Bob” Sobrepeña, and his family’s other companies like College Assurance Plan. 

“A circumspect reading of the subject publication shows that it does not entirely contain matters concerning the status of CJHDevCo, but also touches on the other business affairs of the complainant that do not seem germane to the position of CJHDevCo,” read the resolution approved by Pasig City prosecutor Jacinto Ang. 

The prosecutor filed the libel complaint against Casanova before the Pasig City regional trial court.

Also indicted for libel were BCDA board directors Felicito Payumo, Zorayda Amelia Alonzo, Teresita Desierto, Ma. Aurora Geotina Garia, Ferdinand Golez, Elmar Gomez, and Maximo Sangil. 

The fiscal recommended a bail of P10,000 for each of the respondents.