(CMFR/IFEX) – A reporter in Pampanga, a province 80 kilometres north of Manila, was arrested on 19 December 2006 for alleged libel. Dante Fabian, a senior reporter for “Sun.Star Pampanga”, was arrested in Pulung village in Maragul district, Angeles City, Pampanga, based on a libel complaint filed by Pampanga Rep. Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno on 3 […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – A reporter in Pampanga, a province 80 kilometres north of Manila, was arrested on 19 December 2006 for alleged libel.
Dante Fabian, a senior reporter for “Sun.Star Pampanga”, was arrested in Pulung village in Maragul district, Angeles City, Pampanga, based on a libel complaint filed by Pampanga Rep. Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno on 3 August 2006. Fabian immediately posted bail on the day of his arrest after his colleagues in the Pampanga Press Club raised the required PHP30, 000 (approx. US$600) in bail.
Libel is a criminal offence in the Philippines and has lately been used by many officials, including the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, against journalists whose reporting they resent.
Fabian, a news reporter for “Sun.Star” since 1995, posted bail at the office of Judge Bernardita Gabitan Erum of Regional Trial Court Branch 61.
Nepomuceno is suing Fabian over three stories that alleged that PHP 19 million (approx. US$ 368,900) worth of water pipes and hand pumps had gone missing after having been purchased through the Congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund, more commonly known as the “pork barrel fund” of Nepomuceno, who represents Pampanga’s first district.
Nepomuceno described Fabian’s articles as a form of “malicious reporting.” Fabian, however, insisted that he was just doing his job. “I don’t have any reason or personal motive to go against him (Nepomuceno). I just report what I see,” Fabian said.
Nepomuceno, in a report by the TV network GMANEWS, denied the article’s allegations and said that the pipes had all been accounted for and were already being distributed. Fabian will be arraigned on 25 January 2007.
