VICTORY, VINDICATION. Former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol welcomes Thursday (Dec. 15, 2022) the recent decision of the court convicting Frank Cimatu, a Baguio City-based journalist, of cyber libel over a Facebook post he made in 2017. Cimatu alleged that Piñol, who was then the Agriculture Secretary, amassed PHP21 million in six months following the bird flu outbreak in Central Luzon. (PNA file photo)
DAVAO CITY – Former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday the recent court decision that convicted a Baguio City-based journalist of cyber libel over a malicious online post against him in 2017 is not only a legal victory and vindication but also an important lesson on responsible journalism.
“The purveyors of fake news who slander and shame people to the point of dishonoring them and destroying their lives must not be allowed to seek refuge behind a mantle called press freedom when called to account for the transgression they have committed,” he said in a public post.
In a Dec. 13 ruling, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93 sentenced Frank Cimatu to imprisonment of six months and one day to five years, five months and 11 days in his conviction.
Cimatu was also ordered him to pay Piñol PHP300,000 in moral damages.
In 2017, Cimatu posted on his Facebook wall that Piñol, who was then the Agriculture Secretary, amassed PHP21 million in six months following the bird flu outbreak in Central Luzon.
"Agri Sec got rich by 21 M in 6 months. Bird Flu pa more," Cimatu said on Facebook.
Piñol argued the post "was not only malicious but also outright erroneous because the PHP21 million increase in my assets was indicated in my tax returns before I assumed as Secretary of Agriculture, which was among the five-year financial records I was required to submit before my confirmation by the Commission on Appointment."
He said the amount in his net worth did not represent money but the value of "biological assets" he has accumulated over the years in his farm.
“A little exercise of due diligence and prudence would have helped in educating them that my ‘biological assets’ actually referred to Clonal Materials in my Farm Nursery and the Breeding Materials of Manok Pinoy, the free-range chicken breed which I developed,” Piñol said.
He also noted that he was the only Cabinet Secretary under the Duterte administration who volunteered to be subjected to a lifestyle check and was cleared by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. (PNA)
