May 16 - 31, 2018
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
MAGNO WINS DEFAMATION CASE VS. BALITA
by Jose Victor (“Jayvee”) Salamena
Toronto, Ontario -
The libel lawsuit brought
by Oswald Magno against
Balita, Balita Editor Tess
Cusipag
and
Romeo
Marquez has been resolved
in Magno’s favor, bringing
an end to a legal action
marked by numerous
delays.
Justice Jane Ferguson
of the Ontario Superior
Court, in her decision dated
May 23, 2018, found that the
defendants have defamed
Magno
and
awarded
general, aggravated and
punitive damages totaling
$410,000, excluding legal
costs.
The case did not go to
trial; instead Magno moved
for summary judgment,
which the Court granted.
The judge described
the words complained of
by Magno, which were
contained in 35 articles
mostly written by Marquez
and published by Balita
over 14 months, as
personal attacks driven by
malice. The attacks were
carried both in print and in
cyberspace.
Magno’s
lawyer,
David A. Potts, who is an
author of several books
on defamation, stated in
an email that the damage
award demonstrates the
baselessness of the charges
against Magno.
“I am completely
vindicated by this decision,”
Magno writes in an email
to this reporter. “It has
taken almost 4 ½ years;
nevertheless, justice has
been served,” he added.
Magno
was
one
of the signatories to a
petition advocating ethical were ordered to pay
and socially responsible $250,000 in damages plus
journalism.
Olivia $90,000 in legal costs.
Camacho, also a signatory Additional
proceedings
to the petition, considers in the case resulted in
the result as a victory not aggregate damages, fines
only for Magno but for the and indemnity for legal
community as well.
costs of over $410,000 and
Magno’s lawsuit is also in Cusipag receiving
one of at least four libel a 21-day jail sentence for
actions instituted against criminal contempt.
Balita Media Inc., its Editor
The damage awards
Cusipag and
its reporter
Marquez and
is only the
second to be
adjudicated
to-date.
The first,
instituted
by the late
S e n a t o r
T o b i a s
Enverga Jr.
in 2013, was
decided
in
July
2016.
In that case,
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2017-10-05
the
media
defendants
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in the Magno and Enverga
cases are considered two of
the largest ever awarded in
defamation cases within an
ethnic community, which
may provide a benchmark
for similar cases in the
future.
3:46 PM