Defamation raps filed vs Manila vice mayor

The Ombudsman on Monday filed criminal charges against Manila vice mayor Danilo Lacuna for shouting expletives at a journalist. Lacuna will faces charges of grave oral defamation before the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court. The Ombudsman recommended a P6,000 bail bond. In a statement, the Ombudsman said the case stemmed from a complaint filed by Joey Venancio, publisher and columnist for the tabloid "Saksi". Venancio, in his complaint, claimed that on July 9, 2004 while he was drinking coffee with his friends, Lacuna suddenly approached him and pointing a finger at his face, repeatedly shouted expletives at him and challenged him to a fight. Lacuna denied the allegations and argued that while he admitted having made those utterances, those words were "common vernacular expressions employed to express anger or displeasure and not to slander." The Manila vice mayor also said that Venancio had maligned him in a series of articles he wrote during and after the 2004 elections. But the Ombudsman, in a seven-page resolution, said the evidence presented by Venancio "sufficiently establishes that herein respondent had indeed uttered the defamatory remarks against complainant." It also disagreed with Lacuna's contention that the words uttered are common vernacular expressions which were employed to express anger or displeasure and not to slander. "Needless to stress, a newspaper columnist places much value upon his reputation for journalistic integrity and when such words are uttered against him, the intent is clearly not just to express anger or displeasure but to slander and tarnish his reputation." it said. -GMANews.TV