CEBU, Philippines - Businessman Jonathan "Atan" Guardo's arraignment on the two counts of libel filed by former Cebu City mayor and now Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña was reset on February 28, 2011 after the court refused him to enter a plea without showing up.
Guardo's lawyer, Alvin Burth Cañares, told the court that his client will enter a plea of not guilty.
But Regional Trial Court Branch 18 Presiding Judge Gilbert Moises did not allow the arraignment to proceed in the absence of the accused.
The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office, in an information dated July 26, 2010, had recommended a bail of P10,000 for each count of libel.
Osmeña, then a mayor, sued Guardo in January 21, 2010 for allegedly issuing “malicious, defamatory and malicious statements” that came out in a local newspaper’s issue for January 10 and 11, 2010.
Guardo reportedly said that Osmeña blocked his supporters from delivering aid to fire victims.
Last January 20, 2010, the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cebu City, feeling aggrieved and insulted by Guardo’s statements, approved Resolution Number 10-1769 granting Osmeña authority to file the complaint.
Guardo, leader of the opposition in Cebu City, ran for congressman in Cebu City South but lost to Osmeña during the May 10, 2010 national and local elections. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JPM (THE FREEMAN)