Voting 11-3, the Supreme Court declared Malaya publisher Jake Macasaet guilty of indirect contempt in relation to a series of columns he wrote on the P10-million bribery scandal allegedly involving Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago.
“Wherefore, the court declares respondent Amado P. Macasaet guilty of indirect contempt of court and sentences him to pay a fine of P20,000 in accordance with section 3d and 7 rule 71 of the 1997 of the rules of civil procedure,” the decision penned by Justice Ruben Reyes said.
In a press conference today, SC spokesman Midas Marquez told reporters, “Macasaet’s columns were baseless and unfounded. It was an abuse of press freedom. It was ridiculous and he was not able to prove his allegations. Letting this pass would endanger SC’s integrity and threaten the doctrine of judicial independence,” Marquez added.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales dissented. Justice Consuelo Ynares Santiago, the subject of the articles, did not participate.
The bribery scandal first appeared in Macasaet’s column in Malaya on Sept. 18, 2007. He wrote that a lady justice fired her secretary after the latter opened a box that supposedly contained wads of money. He later estimated that it was about P10 million.
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But Macasaet withheld Santiago’s identity and only named her former secretary Cecilia Munoz Delis. It was Newsbreak (www.newsbreak.com.ph) that identified Santiago a few days later.
Disturbed by the news reports, the SC created a panel to investigate Macasaet’s columns on the bribery scandal. The panel consisted of retired SC Justices Carolina Grino-Aquino and Justo Torres Jr. and Jose Vitug. It started conducting hearings January this year.
When asked in previous interviews why Newsbreak wasn’t included in the investigation, Marquez said, “at the moment, we are focusing on Jake’s columns.”
Newsbreak editor in chief Marites Dañguilan Vitug and senior writer Aries Rufo—who co-wrote the piece on the bribery scandal—were called to the hearings. Macasaet himself appeared in the hearings of the panel to defend himself. –by Carmela Fonbuena and Jenny Aguilar, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak