Court junks libel suit vs Cardinal Vidal, 3 others

Cebu prosecutors junked a libel complaint lodged by an expelled monk against Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and three local church leaders in October 2009. Radio dzBB's Cebu affiliate reported that prosecutors said the publication of a notice that the monk no longer belonged to a religious order was not libelous. Assistant City Prosecutors Ma. Luisa Ong and Jerome Abarca said such a notice involves ecclesiastical affairs of a religious group, and does not necessarily carry a defamatory interpretation. Monk Venancio Cabillon had sued Vidal, Fr. Marnell Mejia, Msgr. Cristobal Garcia and Abelio Mangila for printing a notice about his expulsion in “Ang Bag-ong Lungsuranon," the official newsletter of the Archdiocese of Cebu. The prosecutors said that in a libel case, the charge must be defamatory and malicious; it must be published and its target must be identifiable. But it said the article as a whole was just a simple notice indicating the monk is no longer connected with his order. — LBG, GMANews.TV