The billionaire owner and executives of Davao City-based Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, and the editors, business managers and staff members of three community newspapers were cleared by the Office of the City Prosecutor of Davao City in five libel cases filed by a couple formerly operating a number of Phoenix gasoline stations until recently.
The libel cases, denominated as NPS (National Prosecution Service) Docket No. XI-02-INV-16-D-1244; NPS Docket No. XI-02-INV-16-D-1060; NPS Docket No. XI-02-INV-16-D-1032; NPS Docket No. XI-02-INV-16-F-1573; and Docket No. XI-02-INV-16-G-1955 were filed by businessman John S. Oropeza and Michele Concepcion T. Oropeza after three Davao City-based newspapers published a notice of Phoenix, an oil company, about the closure of some of the six gasoline stations operated by the Oropezas for certain alleged violations of their contracts with the oil company.
The charges were filed against Dennis A. Uy, chief operating officer and president of Phoenix and a host of other companies and identified in several mainstream and online news publications as the youngest billionaire business tycoon coming from Mindanao, and 11 other Phoenix executives –Romeo B. Guzman, Socorro Ermac-Cabreros, J.V. Emmanuel V. de Dios, Cherylyn C. Uy, Monico V. Jacob, Consuelo Y. Santiago, Joseph John L. Ong, Raymond T. Zorilla, Norman T. Navarro, Myra M. Principe and Aileen C. Adora. Also charged were Antonio M. Ajero, editor in chief, Olivia D. Velasco, Neilwin Joseph L. Bravo, Agapito Joaquin Jr., and Jocelyn S. Panes of Edge Davao; Stella A. Estremera, editor in chief, Tessie Alcoriza, Nelson C. Bagaforo, Ruji Peter S. Abat and Marianne S. Abalayan of Sun.Star Davao; and Marietta Flaviano-Siongco, Jose Ronald F. Siongco, Teresita F. Basilio, Manuel G. Siongco and Judy G. Quiros of Mindanao Daily Mirror.
The libel cases stemmed from the publication of a Phoenix notice about the companies action on the violations.
The OCP’s ruling clearing all 27 people recommended by Prosecutor III Samuel T. Atencia and approved and signed by City Prosecutor Nestor M. Ledesma on February 14, 2018 came in the form of a denial of complainant Oropezas’ motion for reconsideration of a previous OCP resolution dropping the libel charges against the respondents.
In recommending a ruling in favor of respondents, prosecutor Atencia set aside the argument of the complainants that their alleged violations of the dealership agreement and the resultant penalties bear no public interest.
“Definitely , Phoenix not only has the moral and social duty but also the legal duty to inform the public that their fuels conform to industry standards and not harmful to the buying public and to the environment as well,” the prosecutor stated.
Atencia argued that the Oropezas are now considered “public personages.”
He said that in Guingguing vs CA, the Supreme Court defined a public figure as “a person who, by his accomplishments, fame, or mode of living, or by adopting a profession or calling which gives the public a legitimate interest in his doings, his affairs and his character, has become a ‘public personage’. He is, in other words, celebrity. Obviously to be included in this category are those who have achieved some degree of reputation by appearing before the public, as in the case of an actor, a professional baseball player, a pugilist, or any other entertainer. The list is, however, broader than this. It includes public officers, famous inventors and explorers, war heroes and even ordinary soldiers, an infant prodigy, and no less a personage than the Grand Exalted Ruler of a lodge. It includes, in short, anyone who has arrived at a position where public attention is focused upon him as a person.”
Prosecutor Atencia said that “the gasoline stations subject of this complaint serves the public. It deals in a commodity which moves the industry. Without fuel, trade and industry would come to a standstill, figuratively. Not to mention convenience on the part of the public to move from one place to another, Fossil fuel is one of the catalysts that transported man to the new age.”
