Negros Occ guv sues mayor for libel

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  â€” Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday filed libel charges against Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña before the City Prosecutor’s Office in this city.

In his eight-page complaint-affidavit, Marañon accused Peña of maligning him in print and broadcast media.

Peña is the chief campaigner of Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr, gubernatorial bet of the Nationalist People’s Coalition against re-electionist Marañon of the local group United Negros Alliance. Marañon and Alvarez were long-time allies and were running mates in the 2010 elections.

Marañon said Peña has “willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, concocted a diabolical scheme in employing the most sophisticated scheme of deception to cause dishonor, discredit or contempt, of the honor and integrity” of the governor.

Peña, a lawyer, was recently disbarred by the Supreme Court. He was the estranged partner of actress Plinky Recto.

The governor cited the libelous statements of Peña, issued in a media interview last March 21: “Gov is 80 years old and delusions and dementia are indications of Alzheimer’s … he is dreaming, that’s not going to happen.”

Peña’s statements at the time were reactions to an earlier statement of the governor predicting victory in the May 2013 elections.

The mayor also released to the media, in a press conference last Feb. 15, a digitally manipulated photo showing the governor waving beside a kangaroo.

Peña has been criticizing the governor for purchasing 5,800 sheep from Australia last year at an allegedly overpriced amount of P40 million.

Marañon’s stand was supported by lawyer Marcelino Briones, who voluntarily executed an affidavit dated April 3, saying that upon reading Peña’s statements in the newspapers, he can say that the mayor’s statements and actions were libelous.

“I was shocked and dumbfounded, and having known Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., his late brother, former Gov. Joseph Marañon, and their father, who were honest public servants whose reputations for integrity and probity is beyond reproached, such uncalled for and defamatory publication definitely cast dishonor, discredit, or in contempt of the incumbent governor,” Briones’s affidavit reads.

For his part, Marañon said he has been a public servant for 50 years—from councilor to mayor to congressman to governor— and he has “clearly established a respectable standing and reputation in our society.” (FREEMAN)