Syjuco sues Mejorada for libel
Lawyer Alex Espino, spokesperson of Rep. Judy Syjuco and her husband Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Augusto Syjuco, made real his threat of filing libel charges against provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada for allegedly making libelous remarks against the couple relative to an alleged questionable transaction involving mobile phone units.
Espino disclosed that Representative Syjuco lodged a criminal complaint against Mejorada, erstwhile staff of Augusto Syjuco, Tuesday at the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office.
In a statement e-mailed to this reporter, Mejorada said "I welcome the filing of the libel cases against me by Rep. Judy Jalbuena Syjuco on the issue of the P6.2-million "ghost purchase" of 1,582 units of Nokia 1100 mobile phones by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). This will be a good opportunity for me to find out what really happened, as Rep. Syjuco has chosen to keep her lips sealed on the issue more than a week after it blew up in the local and national media. I would expect the complaint of Rep. Syjuco to tell her side of the story."
At the same time, Mejorada dared Syjuco to clarify the issue.
"In the spirit of accountability and transparency, the Syjucos owe the public an explanation. This, they failed to do. Instead, they are filing libel charges," Mejorada remarked.
The one count of libel stemmed from a news item that appeared in a national newspaper which quoted Mejorada as having said libelous remarks against Syjuco regarding the questionable delivery of 1,582 mobile phone units worth P6.2 million. Mejorada has said that Syjuco forged the signature of Mayor Isabelo Maquino of Sta. Barbara town purporting receipt of the mobile phones last year.
Based on official documents, Syjuco requested the Department of Transportation and Communication for the purchase of the mobile phone units for the use of the various barangays in the second district. Maquino has denied receiving the units, nor can the mobile phone distributor Jonathan Ng be reached for comment.
Espino said that three more counts of libel against Mejorada will be filed in the coming days at the Iloilo provincial prosecutor's office. These stem from news items appearing in three local dailies carrying the same issue.
Espino stressed, however, those journalists responsible for the write ups are spared from the libel charges.
"They were just used by Boy Mejorada," Espino said. "And besides, I'm a former journalist myself and it's hard to prove malice against reporters."
Over a radio station the other day, Espino said that the libel cases will only be against "my friend Boy Mejorada," laying emphasis on the fact that they used to work for the Tesda director general when the latter was still representative of Iloilo's second district.
Mejorada's act of going public with his accusations of graft against Syjuco before filing a case in court is very malicious, Espino said. "He should have filed a case before the Ombudsman first before going public with his comments."