After 7 long years, justice is served to my ex-journalist hubby
Our family feels relieved and blessed. Justice, after all, still prevails in this country. It may have taken a long time to hear this much-awaited decision from the Supreme Court but at least we didn’t wait in vain.
My hubby was a hard-hitting journalist many years ago. He was so good at his job that he even won a sought-after Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Investigative Reporting during his stint as an associate editor of a local paper in our hometown, Davao. But along the way, as he exposed some anomalies in the government, he found enemies too - including his own employer who’s politician-friendly. In other words, my hubby lost his job while doing what he was supposed to do as a member of the media - to be a watchdog of society.
Let me publish here the gist of the story as written by my hubby after the Supreme Court decision came out:
“In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a former newspaper editor who filed an illegal dismissal case against his publisher almost seven years earlier, after being relieved over the publication of articles that involved anomalies in the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) and high officials from the Davao region, including the current Speaker of the House of Representatives and an incumbent governor who was then a member of the Lower House of Congress.
Confesor, who was Mindanao TIMES associate editor from November 1998 to June 2003 after being promoted as a 22-year-old staff writer when he was first hired in May 1998, also wrote a separate news article in June 2003 regarding “questionable deals” involving the SPDA. During that time, the SPDA was being deactivated by virtue of Executive Order No. 149 dated 18 November 2002, but it was later reactivated by virtue of E.O. No. 560 dated 29 August 2006.
In a decision (posted in the SC website as G.R. No. 183417) promulgated on 5 February 2010 and penned by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, the SC denied the petition for certiorari of Mindanao Times Corp. to reverse the CA’s November 2007 amended decision and May 2008 resolution which both ruled in Confesor’s favor.
The news articles cited anomalies in the SPDA deactivation task force under Atty. Dominador “Boy” Zuño, a former Davao City vice mayor. The articles also cited the latter’s connections and close friendships with Davao City first-district Rep. Prospero “Boy” Nograles, now a last-term congressman and House Speaker who is running again as Davao City mayor in the coming elections, and erstwhile Davao Oriental congresswoman and incumbent provincial governor Corazon Malanyaon.
After the articles were published on 14 June 2003, Confesor was relieved three days later as associate editor, who before June 17 that year had also been writing editorials and publishing a weekly column every Monday in the paper’s editorial section, as well as writing investigative reports such as the SPDA anomalies.
“I am humbled yet at the same time honored, and thankful that the High Court has ensured that justice can be dispensed also in favor of the disempowered, and not only in favor of the powers-that-be,” Confesor said in a press statement. “With utmost humility, this supreme ruling has made me a better individual and a prouder citizen of this freedom-loving republic, where stewards of law and order strive to put premium on truth, fairness, and equality.”
Posted in Personal
February 24th, 2010 12:14 pm
(whaatttt?)…kuyawa oi, astig. Happy for Mitch and you.
February 25th, 2010 6:32 pm
It’s good to know that justice has been served to your hubby. News like this are quite refreshing amidst the many injustices in the country nowadays.
February 27th, 2010 10:31 am
oh, you are from davao too sis? well, wala pa ako diri sa Davao ana nga time but i am happy with the court decision…nasa panig nyo ang itaas (GOD).
March 11th, 2010 7:12 am
Praise God for He is just. It’s good news knowing that justice still prevails.
April 15th, 2010 8:13 am
Congratulations to your husband, Rochelle. Such great news! I hate when the freedom of the press is stomped upon by corrupt officials. Your husband has what we call in America, “guts.” The courage to speak his convictions.