Katrina Halili's libel case vs Hayden's ma junked

The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday junked the two counts of libel case filed by actress Katrina Halili against the mother of her ex-boyfriend, Hayden Kho Jr., due to lack of probable cause. In a five-page resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor Rafael Villordon said they see no reason to indict Irene Kho of libel since she was able to prove that the TV interviews she did wherein she accused Halili of being a drug addict were done without malice. “This office has reason to believe that respondent was able to rebut the presumption of malice under the law. She (Kho) earnestly believed her allegations as true and there is no clear showing that there was any malicious intention to cause damage to Katrina’s reputation," Villordon said. The said interviews were aired last May 25 and 26, or during the height of the sex scandal issue involving Halili and Hayden. Mrs. Kho said in the interviews that Halili taught her son to use illegal drugs, which Hayden blamed for his deviant behavior. In her complaint, Halili denied she is a drug user, saying Mrs. Kho’s “contemptible, defamatory and malicious" remarks had damaged her honor and reputation. In dismissing the case, Villordon said they found that Mrs. Kho’s remarks were not done recklessly or in utter disregard of whether they were true or false. “The statements of Irene in her interviews… were evidently made with good motives and for a justifiable cause as they rose from the natural obligation of a mother to defend her son," he said. - GMANews.TV