Judge clarifies GMANews.TV report regarding Ces Drilon kidnap case

The presiding judge of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 271 denied that it was her sala that dismissed the kidnapping charges against Indanan, Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and son Haider earlier this month in connection with the abduction of broadcaster Ces Drilon in June 2008. In an April 20 letter addressed to GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Abrogar, Judge Paz Esperanza Cortes denied that a GMANews.TV report on April 13 that said it was her court that acquitted the Isnajis and ordered their release. "I would like to inform you that GMANews.TV had erred in the dissemination of the information with regards to the acquittal of [Alvarez and Haider Isnaji] in the Ces Drilon kidnapping case," Cortes said in her letter. "It is true that I had handled the Isnaji case before but I granted the Motion for Inhibition of the defense after I denied the petition for bail. Consequently, the case was raffled to another RTC Taguig Court. This would be very easy to check by the mere act of reading the decision," she added. "The aforecited report is certainly untrue as my court is not the one that had issued the decision acquitting the Isnajis." Cortes said she handled the case before, but because she inhibited, the case was transferred to another branch. She then asked that GMANews.TV clarify the report and apologize publicly to clear her reputation. "It would considerably raise my opinion of journalism in the Philippines if you would make amends by issuing a report correcting the news on the Isnaji case and by apologizing publicly for said April 13 news report. It is hoped that you would do so immediately before the public forgets about the issue and thereby stain my reputation forever," Cortes said. "We incorrectly attributed the decision to Judge Cortes' sala. We're sorry for any hurt this may have caused," said GMANews.TV Editor-in-Chief Howie Severino. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV