Bet sues business partner for libel

CEBU, Philippines — A candidate for Cebu City councilor under Partido Barug filed a complaint last Thursday against his business partners and the franchise holders of Kambal Pan de Sal branch for allegedly confederating with each other in maligning him on social media.

Ernesto Cuico Herrera II, a resident of J. Panis Street, Cebu City, sued his business partner Niel Richard Kintanar and his wife Janice, and spouses Ramon and Karla Fernandez for violating Section 4 paragraph c of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Law before the Cebu City Prosecutors Office.

On November 23, 2018, Herrera said Ramon posted in his Facebook page, allegedly referring to him: “Kiss your political ambition goodbye you have been stealing in your private life! No amount of excuses or defense can protect you because it’s so easy to get evidence against you, the cheater and thief!”

Herrera alleged that he suffered because of the “malicious” posts and he continues to suffer serious “anxiety, besmirched reputation, mental anguish, and sleepless nights.”

“It so happens that my client is also running for councilor and by doing so, it is clear that they are only maligning his reputation in relation to this case,” said Abraham Acosta, Herrera’s counsel.

Herrera said he filed the case just this year, hoping both parties will still settle their differences.

Meanwhile, the Kintanars also sued Herrera and his wife Vanessa yesterday before the Danao City Prosecutor’s Office over an alleged underdeclared income of Kambal Pan de Sal Mitsumi Branch in Danao City.

The Kintanars alleged because of the dishonest declaration of the Herreras of the profits of the Kambal Pan de Sal and their failure to settle their demands to pay the difference of their rightful share, cases for qualified theft and estafa were filed against them.

Acosta said there is no basis for the allegation, adding that the Kintanars should make up their mind as they cannot sue for both qualified theft and estafa at the same time.

Acosta added the Kintanars have no basis to ask for an audit of the business, saying Kambal Pan de Sal is a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Herrera.

“Can you show us any articles of partnership if you are claiming to be partners? If there’s none, what is your basis for asking an audit? We are conducting an audit because every year, we do annual audit of our operations,” Acosta said.

Before the operation of the Kambal Pan de Sal Mitsumi Branch in June 2015, Kintanar suggested to his friend, Niel Richard, about establishing a business partnership, which the latter accepted. Each contributed P175,000 to fund the business.

Allegedly, Herrera proposed to Kintanar to become the sole proprietor so they can start their business immediately, promising he will change the nature of the business to partnership once they have started operations.

Neil Richard said because he trusted Herrera, he never demanded to change the nature of the business. He added he and Herrera opened a joint bank account for the sole purpose of business operations. Monthly, he received P30,000 to P50,000 for his share of profits, but there were months, he added, when he did not receive his share.

He also said there were many attempts from their part to get involved in the operation of the business, but the Herreras, who manage it, were uncooperative.

It was in November 2018 when they learned of alleged discrepancies in the sharing of profits after they saw the summary of the sales of the Kambal Pan de Sal Mitsumi branch.

He said the Mitsumi branch had a total average income of over P100,000 per month, but they received way less, as the sharing was supposed to be 50/50.

Ramon and Karla Fernandez are the franchise holders of Kambal Pan de Sal.

Niel Richard said Ramon offered to him the business franchise after learning he decided not to return to the US. Niel Richard is the brother-in-law of Ramon. — Jean Marvette A. Demecillo, BRP, (FREEMAN)