THE Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of former vice president Jejomar Binay’s libel case against former senator Antonio Trillanes IV that stemmed from the latter’s reported statements that there was a racket involving “ghost” senior citizens in Makati.
The Makati regional trial court granted Trillanes’ demurrer to evidence, which means there was not enough evidence to sustain the charge, and dismissed the libel case in November 2020.
Binay’s motion for reconsideration was denied in January 2021.
Binay elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals.
But the CA Fourth Division, in a June 27 decision, upheld the Makati RTC.
The libel case filed by Binay, a former Makati Mayor, was based on a 2015 online news article that quoted a text message from Trillanes.
But the CA said Binay’s contention that Trillanes made the libelous statements against him was just based on “assumptions or conjectures.”
It noted that the alleged source of the online article was the text message that Trillanes sent to a reporter. However, Binay has no personal knowledge of what was actually written in the text message as he had no interaction with the reporter about this, it said.
And even if Binay had read the text message, he cannot testify on this as this would be hearsay, it added.
The text message was also not presented in court, it said.
“Indeed, other than the online article, petitioner failed to submit convincing evidence to establish that what was written therein was the exact statement private respondent actually texted to the reporters,” it said.
It also said it could not award damages to Binay because the prosecution failed to show evidence that it was Trillanes who made the alleged libelous statements.
The CA likewise said Binay availed himself of the wrong remedy in filing the petition for certiorari to contest the Makati RTC ruling.
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Alfonso Ruiz II and concurred in by Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr. and Ronald Roberto Martin. Courtesy: abogado.com.ph
