DOJ orders withdrawal of libel complaint vs RGMA Network

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the withdrawal of a libel complaint filed against employees of RGMA Network Inc., the radio business arm of GMA Network Inc. In a resolution promulgated last April 28, the DOJ said the six employees of RGMA-dySP — the radio presence of GMA Network in Palawan — cannot be held liable for libel because what they broadcast about the complainant, Palawan State University president Teresita Salva, was neither defamatory nor malicious. Salva, in her complaint, claimed that her reputation was maligned through derogatory remarks over radio dySP last October 2004. Named respondents were Lily Mae Uy, Athena Grace Cabaylo-Calamba, Randidio Evangelista, Junefred Calamba, Lourdes Escaros Paet, and Joselito Cruz. The eight-page DOJ resolution, penned by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, said the department considered Salva — being a state university president — as a public official “whose official acts are a matter of public interest." “[T]he interest of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs… A public officer must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon [her] official acts," part of the decision read. The DOJ said the commentaries on Salva are deemed privileged communications, which are not actionable unless made without good intention or just motive. It also said that anchors and hosts of radio dySP made true and fair reporting of the alleged anomalous acts of Salva. “Their commentaries are deemed to have been reasonably inferred from established facts." Cabaylo-Calamba, who read the comments of listeners sent via text message, cannot be held liable for libel because the commentaries were not her own, according to the DOJ. Uy, the station manager, also cannot be held accountable because the exchange of the hosts and interviewees cannot be totally controlled during a live show, it added. — Jesse Edep/KBK, GMA News