Sandigan junks contempt rap vs The STAR, columnist

MANILA, Philippines - The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has dismissed a petition for indirect contempt filed against The Philippine STAR and its columnist Jarius Bondoc by one of the incorporators of PH Trams, the controversial maintenance service provider of Metro Rail Transit Line 3.

In a 22-page decision dated June 30, the court’s Third Division said the petition that PH Trams incorporator Marlo de la Cruz filed in October 2016 must be denied for “utter lack of merit.”

In his petition, De la Cruz said Bondoc violated the gag order issued by the Third Division on April 19, 2016 prohibiting the then presidential candidates and “any person” from discussing in public through print, broadcast or digital media the issue of awarding of MRT-3 maintenance contract as it may affect the legal proceedings of the pending cases.

The court issued the gag order for Bondoc upon the request of dismissed MRT-3 general manager Al Vitangcol III as then presidential candidates for the May 2016 elections supposedly used to discuss the issue of MRT-3 maintenance during public engagements and presidential debates.

De la Cruz pointed out that the gag order applies not only to the presidential candidates but also to “any person” including members of the media.

He said the court must hold Bondoc and The STAR liable for violating its order when the latter wrote at least six articles in his column titled “Gotcha” supposedly touching on the issue of MRT-3 maintenance contract and on the merits of the pending cases.

De la Cruz was specifically assailing the following articles Bondoc wrote in his column for The STAR: “Trillanes kin got MRT-3 contract” published on June 10, 2016; “Cronyism worse in Phl today – study” (June 13, 2016); “Make Abaya answer for car plate mess” (June 17, 2016); “Latest MRT-3 alibi: old coaches wrong” (Oct. 3, 2016); “Buenafe leaves MRT-3 to other mismanagers” (Oct. 7, 2016), and “MRT-3 installing two inapt signaling system” (Oct. 14, 2016).

In its decision, the Third Division said that after careful review, it did not find in the articles written by Bondoc “any clear and present danger that would bring about disrepute or even scorn to the proceedings being conducted by the court and its members in relation to the subject criminal cases.”

“The subject newspaper articles of respondent Bondoc merely give a fair commentary on an issue which is imbued with public interest,” the ruling penned by Third Division chairman and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang read.

Associate Justices Sarah Jane Fernandez and Bernelito Fernandez concurred with the ruling.

The court said De la Cruz also failed to cite an instance or present any proof that the members of the court have been unduly influenced by the articles written by Bondoc.

The court further said the writing and publication of Bondoc’s articles “fall within the protective mantle” of freedom of speech under Article III, Section 4 of the Constitution.

“Freedom of public comment should, in borderline instances, weigh heavily against a possible tendency to influence pending cases. The power to punish for contempt, being drastic and extraordinary in its nature, should not be resorted to unless necessary in the interest of justice. In the present case, such necessity is wanting,” the court said.

De la Cruz and four other PH Trams incorporators, together with Vitangcol, are facing two cases of graft and a case of violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act in connection with the alleged anomalous awarding of the multimillion-dollar deal for MRT’s maintenance.?

Based on the information of the cases that the Office of the Ombudsman filed in 2015, Vitangcol “unlawfully” used his position in recommending the awarding in 2012 of the maintenance contract to PH Trams “despite having a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest” in the company.

Soriano, then one of the incorporators of PH Trams, is the uncle of Vitangcol’s wife. Under the contract, the MRT was set to pay PH Trams $1.15 million monthly for its Line 3’s maintenance.