Ex-solon told to pay brod P6 M for libel

COTABATO CITY — A Regional Trial Court judge has ordered former Davao del Sur Rep. Alejandro Almendras to pay his own brother P6 million in damages for calling him a "renowned blackmailer" in public when they both ran for the same congressional district during the 1998 elections.

The Mindanao Inquirer, a tabloid in Tacurong City, reported that RTC Judge Hilario Mapayo found Almendras guilty of libel and ordered him to pay his brother, Alexis, P5 million in "moral damages" and another P1 million in exemplary damages.

Alexis’ counsel, the report said, has filed a motion for the immediate execution of the court ruling.

The Almendras brothers are children of the late Sen. Alejandro Almendras, a popular political leader in Davao City and nearby provinces during the late 60s.

Alexis reportedly filed the libel case against his brother after the latter repeatedly alluded to him as a "renowned blackmailer" during the 1998 election campaign. Both of them, however, lost in the elections. — John Unson