(Eagle News)—Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday, Feb. 18, filed libel charges against a former director of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and nine publishers of a tabloid over what she said was an “incorrect and malicious article.”
The libel charges against the publishers of Saksi: Mga Balitang Totoo Ngayon and Manuel Morato stem from a Feb. 15 article titled “Joy Belmonte: Swak sa Graft” which said she gave a special permit for the construction of a building to favor her siblings.
The article had cited Morato as the source.
The vice mayor has denied the allegations, adding that the permits were applied for by Sta. Lucia Realty, supposedly a joint venture with the brother of Morato.
According to Belmonte, apart from the fact that the complaint filed against her was already dismissed by the prosecutors office and by the Department of Justice, at the time the assailed resolution was passed, “I was not even the presiding officer” of the city council.
“It cannot be stressed enough that the resolution does not contain my signature,” she said.
She added even as presiding officer, she merely “administers” sessions, and “cannot unilaterally pass a resolution as Vice Mayor of Quezon City”
She said this was “a collegial act – an act which requires the participation of the whole City Council..”
“I am confident that I will be cleared of these false accusations, so I have filed the case to do justice to the truth and, more importantly, show that there is no space for ‘fake news’ and disinformation in Quezon City,” she said, alleging the article was published out of “monetary gain, political clout, or false prestige.”
