Tarlac Provincial Prosecutor junks libel case vs GMA Network

The Tarlac Prosecutor’s Office has junked the libel complaint filed against GMA Network regarding a land distribution scheme featured in Imbestigador last year. A March 8 resolution signed by assistant provincial prosecutor Ma. Lourdes Soriano and approved by city prosecutor Hermo Manglicmot stated that no probable cause was found against respondents GMA Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer lawyer Felipe L. Gozon; Senior Vice President for News and Public Affairs Marissa L. Flores; and Imbestigador host Miguel C. Enriquez. Also cleared from the complaint filed by Ruben Soliman were Imbestigador executive producer Junie Castillo; researcher Karen Anne Velarde; staffers Anne Alemanya, Marlon Cruz, and Edwin dela Peña; and cameraman Charlie Velasquez. The case stemmed from the March 30 episode of Imbestigator featuring complaints against Soliman who allegedly distributed tracts of land for only P500. Soliman was reportedly behind the release of Certificates of Occupancy to the supposed land beneficiaries upon payment of P500. Soliman was the signatory in the Certificates of Occupancy in a three-hectare lot. The complainant accused Imbestigador of deliberately omitting in its report "the fact that the cases previously filed against him had already been dismissed by the courts and by the office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Tarlac." Soliman also claimed that he was "humiliated in their community" and experienced mental anguish and sleepless nights after the program directly named him and showed his face on television. The prosecutors found the Imbestigador report fair, objective, and truthful. “We found that respondents were in good faith and were doing public service in exposing or denouncing acts involving public deception, after an exhaustive research and verification of facts surrounding the activities featured in the segment," the resolution read. The prosecutors rejected Soliman's allegation that the show intended to humiliate him in public. The resolution also stated that Imbestigador is a news and public affairs show which features stories or reports of public interest. It added that Soliman was included in the report since he is the signatory of the Certificate of Occupancy being distributed. It further said that Soliman did not deny in his interview his participation in the fraudulent distribution of land, as alleged administrator of the land supposedly owned by to former President Ferdinand Marcos. — Amita O. Legaspi/LBG, GMANews.TV