Executive Sec. Salvador Medialdea filed on Tuesday a new libel complaint against Special Envoy for Public Diplomacy to China and columnist Ramon Tulfo after the latter allegedly published “malicious” article against the former.
Atty. Elvis Batalayan, legal counsel of Medialdea, confirmed that his client charged Tulfo for two counts of libel under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code and two counts of libel under Section 4(c)(4) of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
“Tulfo’s unfounded, baseless and malicious allegations gravely injured my reputation, diminished the esteem, confidence, and respect of the public for me and my Office, and incited derogatory opinions about me and the Office I hold,” Medialdea said in his complaint.
The Manila Times president and CEO Dante “Klink” Ang II; chief operating officer Blanca Mercado, publisher-editor Nerilyn Tenoro; news editor Leena Chua; and national editor Lynette Luna were also named as respondents in the complaint.
Medialdea filed the said complaints before the Manila City prosecutors office.
In line with this, Medialdea demanded P80 million in moral damages and P60 million in exemplary damages.
In Tulfo’s column on July 20, the Duterte envoy claimed Medialdea signed a memorandum circular to “support a private entity” on the Southeast Asian Games hosting “apparently without the President’s knowledge.”
Another article was published by Tulfo on July 23 entitled “You will have your karma, Bingbong Medialdea” where he criticized the first complaint filed by Medialdea.
He also called Medialdea a “big fat liar” and accused the latter of using his position to harrass journalists “who are doing their job of exposing the ills of society and government.”/ with reports from Bombo Jerald B. Ulep; edited by Bombo Sol Marquez.
