‘BURLESK’ CASE: Tabloid execs, reporters post P1.6-M bail

DAVAO CITY — Two executives and four reporters of the tabloid Abante Tonite have posted bail totaling P1.6 million in connection with the 55 counts of libel which Davao City first district Rep. Prospero Nograles filed against them over the so-called "Burlesk King" scandal.

The case stemmed from a series of Abante Tonite stories alleging that Nograles and former ABS-CBN Davao TV host Jeanette Leuterio were caught by her husband in a compromising act inside a hotel room in Manila last year.

The stories alleged that Leuterio’s husband, a police officer, forced Nograles, at gunpoint, to run naked — thus, the "Burlesk King" tag.

Abante Tonite publisher Allen Macasaet, managing editor Nicolas Quijano Jr. and reporters Bernard Taguinod, Irwin Corpus, Rey Marfil and Gerry de Leon posted bail after Regional Trial Court Branch 13 Judge Isaac Robillo issued warrants for their arrest.

A number of broadcasters of dxMF Radyo Bombo Davao are also facing libel charges for reporting the scandal on air. — Edith Regalado