CA grants petition for certiorari of Radio GMA Network

January 24 2014

The Special Eighth Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) granted a petition for certiorari filed by Radio GMA Network, Inc. (RGMA), a subsidiary of GMA Network that manages its nationwide radio operations.

 In its July 22, 2013 decision written by Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio concurred in by Associate Justice Rosalinda Asuncion Vicente and Associate Justice Priscilla J. Baltazar-Padilla, the CA annulled and set aside the resolution of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which found probable cause to file an information for libel against RGMA’s Super Radyo DYSP station manager Lily Mae Uy, and radio anchors Lourdes Escaros-Paet and Junfred Calamba.

The CA also directed the Prosecutor’s Office of Puerto Princesa to “cause the immediate withdrawal of informations (for libel) subject of various criminal cases related to the same pending before Branch 52 of the Regional Trial Court of Puerto Princesa.”

The libel complaint of respondent Dr. Teresita Salva, President of Palawan State University (PSU), stemmed from RGMA’s interview with Flaviana Valle, a professor at PSU. Valle previously filed a complaint against Salva before the Office of the Ombudsman in October 2004 for the latter’s alleged unjust re-assignment to Palawan State University-Extramural Studies in Brooke’s Point Palawan.

The complaint served as basis for the news reports of the news anchors of Super Radyo DYSP, who conducted live interviews with Flaviana Valle, Regullo Valle and Wilfredo Antonio in the programs “Balita Numero Uno” and “Balita Numero Dos.”

The CA noted that the hosts never uttered anything libelous against Salva as admitted by the Office of the Solicitor General. The interview, which merely tackled Valle's complaint against Dr. Salva and other officials of PSU for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, grave misconduct and grave abuse of authority, was considered by the CA as matters of public interest constituting privileged communication.