Ex-DND chief Reyes to file libel raps vs Rabusa

Former defense chief Angelo Reyes on Tuesday said he will file a libel complaint against former military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa for accusing him of being involved in a corrupt practice while he was still Armed Forces chief of staff. In his complaint to be filed before the city prosecutor of Quezon City, Reyes — through his lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan — said that Rabusa is guilty of violating Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC). Article 353 of the RPC defines libel as "a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice of defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to be blacken the memory of one who is dead." Alentajan explained that during a Jan. 31, 2011 interview on ANC, Rabusa "deliberately and maliciously made defamatory imputations" against Reyes and his wife Teresita. During the interview, Rabusa claimed that Mrs. Reyes received between P20,000 to P200,000 for local travel and $2,000 to $10,000 for her overseas trips while her children spent P8,000 for their "night outs." "This is a wild and preposterous allegation. My family and I are shocked that Rabusa would stoop this low, just so he could be cleared from the cases he is now facing," Reyes said on Tuesday.

He said Rabusa's statements constituted "defamatory imputation" that is "false and iherently malicious, because it caused dishonor, defamation, embarrassment, and public humiliation" to him and his family because the interview was televised nationwide and was viewed by millions. Rabusa's statements "indubitably constitute assassination of character, and subject to criminal prosecution" because of which he "suffered and will continue to suffer serious anxiety, fear, embarrassment, ridicule, public humiliation, and irreparable injury," he said in his complaint. 'Pabaon' Rabusa last week appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committtee on Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada's request. During the hearing, Rabusa accused Reyes of receiving around P100 million during his stint as AFP chief of staff and not less than P50 million more as "pabaon" (send-off money) when he retired in 2001. But Reyes said that it is Rabusa who should be prosecuted immediately because of his admission of disbursing hefty sums of AFP money illegally. "Based on his tri-media admissions, he alone is liable for the millions he stole from the AFP funds," he said. On Monday, Reyes filed criminal and administrative charges against Rabusa and Estrada before the Office of the Ombudsman for linking him to the alleged corruption in the military. He said accused Estrada and Rabusa of causing "undue injury... through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence" under Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. In a television interview Monday, Rabusa said he was unfazed by Reyes' complaint as well as some death threats he said he started receiving a day after exposing the alleged corruption in the military. "No, I don't care about it," Rabusa told GMA News' "24 Oras." When asked if he is receiving death threats, he said: "Meron. Kinabukasan pa lang (There are and they came the day after I appeared in the Senate) — RSJ, GMANews.TV