MORE LIBEL CASES. Real Steel Corp. HR chief Jenalyn Salazar (L) together with lawyer Camille Mendoza shows libel complaints she filed against news anchor and social media personality Erwin Tulfo and former RSC employee Joey Gumana. Contributed photo
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The owner of the steel smelting plant in San Simon town and an executive of his company filed separate multiple counts of libel and cyber libel cases against broadcast journalist Erwin Tulfo over the weekend here and in Quezon City.
The cases stemmed from “the series of defamatory remarks and malicious posts” against the Real Steel Corp. (RSC) allegedly made on social media by Tulfo about two weeks ago.
Friday afternoon, RSC human resources manager Jenalyn Salazar, representing the steel company, accompanied by her lawyer Camille Mendoza submitted a complaint affidavit before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office here against Tulfo and a former RSC employee identified as Joey Gumana.
“I am executing my complaint affidavit on behalf of Real Steel Corp. to charge respondent Erwin Tulfo, host of TV and Radio program Tutok Tulfo 2.0, and Joey Gumana, former employee of RSC, for conspiring with each other with at least one count of the crime of Libel as defined and penalized under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code and three counts of the crime of Cyber Libel as defined and penalized under section 4(c)(4) of the Republic Act 10175 also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” said Salazar in a statement.
The complaint affidavit was received by assistant provincial prosecutor Grand Z. Tepace at the Justice Hall, Pampanga Capitol Compound.
For her part, lawyer Mendoza said: “Dahil sa mga defamatory remarks at kasinungalingan ng TV host and social media personality na si Erwin Tulfo kaya kami ngayon, on behalf of the RSC, ay nagsampa ng kaso.“
In Quezon City, RSC owner Irwin Chua also filed separate libel and cyber-libel complaints against Tulfo and Gumana via online before the City Prosecutor’s Office.
It was Gumana, a dismissed RSC employee, that allegedly sought the help of Tulfo, making it appear that he was a victim of maltreatment by Chua and RSC management, and that 100 workers were padlocked inside the factory and they forced to sniff illegal drugs before going to work.
In his complaint, Chua said Tulfo’s tirades, in separate occasions on social media, television and radio, “against me being a private businessman, are malicious, degrading, baseless and unfounded.”
He said the TV host did not even bother to get his side before airing and posting the issues on social media.
“Tulfo’s gesture and remarks are clear example of irresponsible journalism,” said Chua in a phone interview.
Accusations in Tulfo’s posts of maltreatment of workers, of their being forced to sniff drugs, and theirrescue by the police and the Department of Labor and Employment Central Luzon Office were disproved.
“No [RSC] employees have been found positive of illegal drugs during random and regular drug testings,” said Major Freddie Herry who issued the certification even as he belied allegations that “some workers were forced to sniff illegal drugs” inside the steel plantpremises.
DOLE-3 had clarified that the 42 laborers reported to have been rescued were in fact allowed to freely leave the steel plant after they filed their resignation.
“It was just a miscommunication and wrong angling of the story by a media entity from Manila,” DOLE Region 3 director Maria Zenaida Angara-Campita wasreported to have said in media interview. “They were actually prevented to go out of the factory compound because of the quarantine protocols and lockdown and health concerns.”
Last week, former San Simon town councilor and municipal environment and natural resources officer Melchor Tayag filed seven counts of cyber libel cases against Tulfo after the news anchor dentified him as the “cruel” owner of RSC in several posts in social media.
“I was described as Chinese national in one of the social media posts with caption “Chinese national pinipilit ang mga empleyado magshabu, ginagawang target practice at binubugbog,” said Tayag in his complaint affidavit filed before the Pampanga Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
As this developed, the RSC management announced that some of the employees who voluntarily resigned after they claimed to have been threatened by dismissed workers, have been reinstated by the company.
This, even as several others have applied for work as replacement for those who were not given the chance to return to work. With PR
