BACOLOD City Council Secretary Vicente Petierre III said Wednesday, May 10, that he is open to a settlement with broadcaster Franklin Villanueva on the libel charges he filed against him, if he will do a public apology.
Petierre said the case is now with the Regional Trial Court Branch 50 and the arrest warrant was already issued against the respondent.
On November 23, 2016, Petierre had filed two counts of libel against Villanueva, a broadcaster with a block time program at DYRL radio station in Bacolod.
Petierre said that on November 9, 2016, Villanueva claimed that he is one of the public officials who received P250,000 from garbage contractor IPM-Construction and Development Corp.
He said Villanueva mentioned in his program “Frankahanay Live” that Bacolod is dirty and with so much foul odor not because the garbage was not collected but because of the corrupt officials and employees of the city who got P250,000 each.
Petierre added that Villanueva announced that if there is complaint regarding collection of garbage against IPM-CDC, it is because they are unmindful or the public officials mentioned are irresponsible as what had been and circulated.
He said that Villanueva also mentioned in his program that he got a “black propaganda” material and read it and made his own analysis.
The mere fact that it was a “black propaganda,” it already connotes falsity, and he read the black propaganda on air in his program, he added.
“I am open to settlement if he will do a public apology on tri-media,” Petierre said.
“These malicious and libelous statements, comments, analysis or description by Villanueva is totally untruthful and unfair,” he added.
Petierre said that he had not received money or P250,000 from IPM, or pocketed any single centavo from government funds nor enrich himself being a government employee. (MAP)
