DZBB's Melo del Prado sues Inquirer, 2 ex-Nabcor officers for libel

August 26 2014

Carmelo Magdurulang Del Prado (a.k.a. Melo del Prado), anchorman of GMA’s DZBB radio station, today filed a criminal case for libel against the publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, four editors, a reporter,  and two former officials of the National Agribusiness Corp.

Charged were PDI publisher Raul Pangalanan, editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, managing editor Jose Ma. D. Nolasco, associate editor for online Abelardo Ulanday, news editor Artemio Engracia Jr., and reporter Nancy Carvajal; and former Nabcor officers Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Roman Cacal.

The complaint/affidavit was sworn before Assistant Quezon City Prosecutor Reynaldo Garcia.

The complaint stemmed from the series of publications by the PDI in its issues of March 19, 20, and 21, 2014 and a post by Inquirer.net on March 18, 2014, stating that del Prado was a recipient of payoffs in the guise of advertising expenses from the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

According to Del Prado, he had long been wanting to file the case but he gave prime consideration to the condition of his wife who was four months pregnant at the time the alleged libelous publications came out. Now that his wife has given birth, he decided it was the right time to sue the respondents.

Lawyer Reginald Francisco, counsel of del Prado, said: “This is the worst accusation you can make against a broadcaster or any media professional for that matter as it penetrates deep into the heart of his persona, honor and credibility. The accusations were baseless from the very beginning as all our evidence will bear. The respondents made and caused the publications either knowing that the information was false, or at the very least, in reckless disregarded whether it was false or not. That is our legal definition of actual malice as defined by our Supreme Court that relied heavily on American jurisprudence, specifically New York Times vs. Sullivan.”

Francisco continued by saying that “all elements of the crime are present in this case or we will not waste our time and effort suing. What is most material among the four elements of libel is actual malice. And in this case, there was actual malice because their stories are false and they did not bother to verify the truth before ruining my client’s reputation.”

“He also emphasized that PDI based its concocted stories on checks, vouchers and affidavits by Cacal and Mendoza which allegedly included Del Prado in the PDAF scam. But no less than DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima said she saw nothing in those affidavits implicating Del Prado. Even Atty. Levi Baligod, who is himself the lawyer of Cacal and Mendoza in the PDAF scam case said in a recorded interview that no media personality was mentioned in those affidavits.”

Del Prado also said that the checks he received from Nabcor were payments for airing radio commercials of the Department of Agriculture for its Barangay Bagsakan campaign, which was for the purpose of informing the public where to buy cheap food.

According to him, these checks were all fully documented from the broadcast contract between NABCOR and GMA, billing invoices, vouchers, copies of the checks, official receipts, certificates of performance to BIR Form 2307 which shows that the corresponding tax was withheld.

He further stated that even the Philippine Daily Inquirer and its tabloid, Bandera, had print ads of the DA’s Barangay Bagsakan campaign.

“Kumpleto kami sa lahat ng katibayan pati kontrata at tseke ng Nabcor sa PDI. Anong payoff ang pinagsasabi nila? Sila mismo kumita sa lehitimong ad campaign na iyan.”