DOJ OKs slander raps vs designer
Philstar.com
Philstar.com - Saturday, January 2
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MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the indictment of a fashion designer who was filmed insulting a Duty Free Philippines (DFP) cashier and manager at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in May last year.
In a four-page joint resolution released last month, the DOJ said it found probable cause to pursue the case for grave slander by deed and oral defamation against Angelino “Boyet” Fajardo filed by DFP cashier Marvin Fernandez and manager Susan Gonzales.
Investigating fiscal Amerhassan Paudac of the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office said all elements of grave slander under Article 359 of the Revised Penal Code were present in the act committed by Fajardo against the complainants on May 13, 2009. The case caught public attention after a video of the incident was posted on the YouTube website.
According to case records, Fajardo tried to purchase an item using his credit card. Fernandez requested a valid identification card and Fajardo presented a Movie and Television Review and Classification Board card without a signature.
The cashier referred the card to Erlina Nerida, DFS cash operations department supervisor, but Fajardo shouted at her and berated Fernandez for calling her.
He refused to have the transaction handled by either Fernandez or Nerida, so Nerida looked for Gonzales, her supervisor.
“The act of the respondent ordering Fernandez, lawfully performing his duty as an employee (cashier) of DFS, to kneel down before him after uttering offensive words… in the presence of all Fernandez’s co-workers and other customers at that time, is very degrading and casts dishonor and discredit upon Fernandez,” stated the resolution approved by State Prosecutor Amor Robles.
The DOJ fiscals also said Fajardo’s “unsavory words undeniably addressed to Gonzales while the latter was attending to concerns of the former, in the workplace, which were heard, and the entire incident seen and witnessed, not only but the co-workers of Gonzales, but also by the other customers then present, constitute the offense of grave slander.”
During preliminary investigation, Fajardo denied the allegations against him and claimed he did not utter invectives at the complainant.
He said he talked to Fernandez as a “gay talking to another gay” without intending to intimidate or malign the latter.
As to the accusations that he threw his passport at Fernandez, Fajardo said the cashier was hit by the passport accidentally after he suddenly stooped down to get something from a drawer below the counter.
He also denied demanding Fernandez to kneel down before him, claiming he merely employed an expression common within the gay community.
DOJ prosecutors junked Fajardo’s defense, saying video footage of the incident submitted by complainants and testimonies of other DFP officers who witnessed the incident rebutted the designer’s claims.
“The defense of denial and plea of innocence posted by respondent are all evidentiary, the truthfulness of which are best left to the determination of the court in a full blown trial,” the DOJ said.
However, the DOJ junked the complaint for alarm and scandal and grave coercion against the respondent for lack of sufficient evidence. - By Edu Punay (Philstar News Service,
Philippine News for the Filipino Global Community)
DOJ OKs slander raps vs designer
Originally Posted by misha lang
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