Ilonggo showbiz writer slaps lawyer, Manila-based producer with 9 counts of Libel
A respected and well-loved Ilonggo entertainment writer filed before the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutors' Office nine counts of Libel against a Manila-based lawyer and producer.
With comebacking actor Gabby Concepcion at the center of the controversy, Jobert Sucaldito sought legal redress for what he summed up were "shameful profanities" lodged against his person. Worse still, Sucaldito decried, the respondent-lawyer even dragged his deceased father into the fray.
A four-paged Affidavit-Complaint obtained by The News Today (TNT) identified the respondents as Atty. Eduardo Flaminiano, the returning actor's counsel and Rose Flaminiano of FLT Films Center in Quezon City.
Sucaldito narrated the origin of the controversy starting off on the product endorsement he helped negotiate for Concepcion that went awry. Worse again, he said, another contract was supposedly pursued by the duo for an endorsement of a directly-competing product. A separate case for Damages was filed by Sucaldito docketed as Civil Case No. 08-62473 in a Quezon City Court.
"Before I filed aforesaid Complaint, I came out with a story in my column "Expose" in Bandera newspaper on April 23, 2008 and April 24, 2008 exposing the actions of Mr. Concepcion and the respondent Rose.....," excerpts of the Affidavit-Complaint went. "By virtue of aforesaid story and the news which came out thereafter, the respondents developed intense and extreme animosity against me. News articles and interviews came out attacking me unceasingly about my action of publishing aforsesaid story."
Respondent-lawyer then allegedly wrote a letter addressed to another national tabloid which eventually reached other media organizations.
The said letter, Sucaldito said, "repeatedly maligned my name and person and displayed blatantly arrogrant demeanor."
"He started by toying with my surname by addressing me as "Mr. Jobert Sucal-dito or Sucal-doon?" This while knowing fully well that my surname is plain SUCALDITO. My surname is one of my most cherished possessions. My deceased father and his entire family have maintained the reputation of their surname. My father, also a lawyer, upheld his integrity just to protect his name, notwithstanding the various temptations in his office and practice. To desecrate a surname is sometimes worse than death," his Affidavit-Complaint stated.
And Concepcion's lawyer was apparently not done yet with his purported Sucaldito-sentiments.
The letter further went on with statements deemed "appalling" by the Ilonggo showbiz writer.
"Ang aming hihilingin na danyos perwisyo laban sa 'yo ay isang piso or isang platitong mani lamang dahil wala ka namang pera na ibabayad kung sakaling matalo ka sa kaso (The damages that we will seek against you is only One Peso or a serving of peanuts only since you do not even have money to pay up in the event you lose the case)," the respondent-lawyer's statement as alleged went. "...meron ka bang sapat na kakayahan na magbayad ng isang matinong abogado na magtatangol sa 'yo? (Do you even have the capacity to pay a decent lawyer for your defense?) Sana naman magkaroon ka ng pagkakataon na ibangon muli ang nasadlak mong puri. (May you have the chance to salvage your besmirched reputation)"
More personal attacks, Sucaldito disclosed, with the respondent-lawyer likewise calling him as "nothing but a malevolent and evil person... Basura ang mga sinusulat mo. Basura rin ang pag-iisip mo. Basura din ang dating at kahulugan ng apelyido mo (Your writings are trash. Your thinking are trash as well. And your surname is trash too)"
"Buti nga hindi ko siya tinawag na Suka-dito, Suka-doon.. .kahit isanla na niya ang kaluluwa niya walang 10 milyon nga ibabayad si Jobert (Good thing I did not call him as 'vomit-there, vomit-here'... even if he has his soul pawned, Jobert will not have 10 million to pay)," the respondent-lawyer was also quoted in the complaint.
The respondent-producer on the other hand was credited by Sucaldito as source of "malicious imputations" allegedly tagging him as fixer.
"Needless to say, I lost my face to my family, friends and colleagues in my profession, especially in Iloilo. The respondents have maligned my person and my family name which name I had cherished and valued all these years," Sucaldito averred. "Tainting my name by hurling shameful profanities at me would destroy my reputation which I have worked hard for and protected since time immemorial...The remarks made caused tremendous dishonor, discredit and contempt over my person and were made with the purpose of maligning my person due to the respondents marked hatred and ill-will towards me."
Sucaldito is aided by lawyers Cecilia Lopez, Pablo Tolentino and Jorge Miravite.