GENERAL SANTOS — The Center for International Law (CenterLaw) will defend a journalist here sued by world boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao for P75-million, a lawyer said on Monday.
Romel Regalado Bagares, CenterLaw executive director, said the group agreed to defend Edwin G. Espejo in the libel suit the boxer?s lawyers filed last week.
CenterLaw is a human rights organization dedicated to the promotion of free expression and a charter member of the Southeast Asia Media Defense Network, an alliance of regional lawyers? and media advocacy groups providing legal support to journalists facing legal persecution for the work they do.
In a statement, Mr. Bagares said it is not too late for Mr. Pacquiao to withdraw the complaint filed against the journalist.
Mr. Pacquiao?s case stemmed from recent articles of Mr. Espejo, which appeared at online news outfits Asian Correspondent and MindaNews.
At the Asian Correspondent, the piece was titled “Stolen car dealer finds refuge in Pacman mansion,” while MindaNews titled it “Dealer of stolen cars last seen in Pacman mansion.”
The suit comes at the heels of a view released by the UN Human Rights Committee finding that criminal libel in the Philippines violates its obligations to protect free expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights to which it is a signatory, Mr. Bagares said.
“It would do well for Mr. Pacquiao in his job as a legislator to support calls for the decriminalization of libel in the country by recalling the suit he filed against Mr. Espejo,” he added.
Mr. Espejo tried to get the congressman?s side of the story but could not reach him as he was then abroad. He spoke with a lawyer for Mr. Pacquiao, who promptly denied that the congressman had anything to do with the car dealer.
“From the legal point of view, there is no libel in what he wrote about Rep. Pacquiao,” Mr. Bagares said.
“Mr. Espejo followed the standard journalistic procedure in verifying the story with sources and in obtaining Rep. Pacquiao?s side. Moreover, the issue is clearly a matter of public interest subject to reportage and fair comment.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) earlier urged Mr. Pacquiao to withdraw his complaint saying he is in a good position to set an example for other politicians to emulate.
“It would be a shame if Pacquiao should risk his well-deserved reputation by succumbing to the same urge that has seen official after abusive official resort to our draconian criminal libel law — or even worse measures — to stifle reasonable criticism and critical coverage,” the statement from the NUJP read.
Mr. Espejo heads the NUJP chapter for South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City. — Romer S. Sarmiento
