Cagayan de Oro City Oscar S. Moreno. (PNA file photo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A libel complaint filed by a resident against Mayor Oscar Moreno has been dismissed by the City Prosecutor’s Office.
In a four-page resolution dated June 24 but was made available to the media on Wednesday (July 8), Acting City Prosecutor Lito Sanchez said the complaint was unsubstantiated.
Sanchez said the “absence of any witness to substantiate this claim, the allegation of complainant is merely speculative in the absence of any corroborative evidence”.
Maria Leonafe Cabagnot filed a libel complaint against Moreno for identifying her as the person who made the call to the national government hotline 8888 regarding the city government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In interviews, Cabagnot has admitted that she is a consultant at the office of Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano.
But Cabagnot denied she made the call to 8888. An undated copy of the recording began circulating on social media on May 9 this year.
Another person, Bernadine Castillo, has claimed she was the one who made the call.
The caller alleged that the city government has not been handling well the coronavirus cases in Cagayan de Oro and suggested that it should be put on lockdown for fear that the contagion could spread further and affect more people.
At the time, the city was declared as under the general community quarantine, with seven persons confirmed positive of the virus.
In his daily press briefing on May 9, Moreno identified Cabagnot as the caller.
Five days later, Cabagnot filed the libel complaint against Moreno before the city prosecutor’s office.
In her affidavit, Cabagnot said she was “utterly shocked” when Moreno mentioned her name and identified her as the 8888 caller.
The complainant also alleged the mayor’s statement had put her and her family to "public ridicule and social humiliation".
However, the prosecutor's four-page resolution said Cabagnot did not submit any "supporting document nor affidavit of witnesses attached to her complaint to further substantiate her complaint".
Sanchez said there was no malice in Moreno’s part identifying Cabagnot as the one who made the call.
“The alleged imputation made by respondent in naming complainant as the alleged 8888 Caller cannot be considered as made with actual malice as respondent has presented seven (7) witnesses who executed affidavits identifying complainant as the alleged 8888 caller,” reads part of Sanchez’s resolution.
In his counter-affidavit, Moreno has denied any complicity in the charge.
Sanchez said Moreno “found it opportune to address the dissatisfaction expressed by the City’s constituency which he believed a majority of whom belong or associated with the political opposition”.
Moreno also alleged that in naming Cabagnot, he was duty-bound to disclose any misrepresentation which could undermine the efforts of the city government in abating the threats of the coronavirus pandemic.
Moreno’s lawyer Dale Bryan Mordeno said the decision of the prosecutor is “instructive to the cavalier, irresponsible and malicious nature of criticisms from the local opposition”.
“People are already tired of their dirty tactics and would stand up against their lies,” said Mordeno, referring to the seven individuals who executed affidavits pointing to Cabagnot as behind the 8888 call that made the rounds in social media.
As of this writing, Cabagnot has yet to issue a statement, although the city prosecutor’s office has noted that she has withdrawn her complaint through an affidavit of desistance, which she executed on May 20.
“However, an affidavit of desistance is viewed with suspicion and reservation and regarded as exceedingly unreliable. Hence, it cannot be made as the basis of a resolution of this case by the undersigned investigating prosecutor,” Sanchez said. (PNA)
