Senator Antonio Trillanes IV cannot invoke parliamentary immunity to escape prosecution from libel when he accused Court of Appeals Justices of receiving bribe money for a favorable ruling, suspended Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin 鈥淛unjun鈥� Binay said.
Binay鈥檚 reply-affidavit, which he personally subscribed Thursday, said that the very Constitution invoked by Trillanes covers only speeches or debates in Congress or in any committee only.
鈥淗ence, when Respondent [Trillanes] maliciously accused me of bribing the Justices of the Court of Appeals on 7 April 2015 before the different media outfits, he cannot be granted immunity considering that he made the same outside of any congressional or committee deliberations,鈥� Binay said.
Trillanes, in his counter-affidavit, invoked parliamentary immunity under Section 11, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that no senator shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in Congress or in any committee hearing.
READ: Trillanes invokes immunity from Binay suit
But Binay said Trillanes was 鈥済rossly mistaken鈥� for invoking such immunity because its privilege applies only when necessary to prevent indirect impairment of deliberations being made in Congress.
鈥淐learly, when Respondent authored, mouthed, disseminated and distributed his lies to the media and the public outside the session halls of the Senate, he shed any pretense of acting in the official discharge of his duties. It is a fact that his lies were not addressed to colleagues in the Senate for any legislative duty but only to the media for the sole purpose of blackening my name and reputation, with the end in view of derailing my father鈥檚 Presidential bid,鈥� he added.
Binay said that the Senator cannot also invoke free speech 鈥渋f the purpose is to promote a lie.鈥�
Binay pointed out that to date, Trillanes has not presented any proof or evidence that he indeed bribed the Court of Appeals justices to secure a restraining order against the first preventive suspension order imposed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Binay added that the Senator himself admitted in one of his interviews with the media that he has no basis for the bribery allegation.
He quoted Trillanes as saying 鈥溾�h mayroon tayong information. Again, tatanungin ba ako kung mayroon akong basis. Hindi. Kasi sabi ko nga, sa aming mga military, 鈥榶ung intelligence, ano 鈥榶an, an information that can be used for decision-making diba? (鈥e have information. Again, would I be asked if I had a basis. No. Because, like I said, in the military, intelligence is information that can be used for decision-making, right?)鈥�
鈥淭he subject statement was made recklessly, without any regard whether it is true or not,鈥� Binay said.
Binay鈥檚 lawyers led by Claro Certeza further argued that the聽senator鈥檚 parliamentary immunity 鈥渃annot be extended to cover illegal聽acts.鈥�
鈥淯ndoubtedly, Respondent did not make the imputation of bribery out of聽a sincere desire to perform a legal, moral or social duty. His聽intention was to vilify my father and me so that the former will not聽win in the next elections,鈥� he stressed.
鈥淩espondent鈥檚 ill motivation is also made apparent by his choice of聽recipients of his so-called bribery report. As advised by my counsel,聽the law requires that for a defamatory imputation made out of a legal,聽moral or social duty to be privileged, such statement must be聽communicated only to the person or persons who have some interest or聽duty in the matter alleged, and who have the power to furnish the聽protection sought by the author of the statement,鈥� the mayor added.
Binay filed the libel case after Trillanes accused him of paying P25 million to Court of Appeals 6th division to stop the implementation of the suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman regarding his alleged involvement in the overpriced Makati Parking Building.
READ: Mayor Binay files libel case against Trillanes | Junjun Binay questions transfer of libel case vs Trillanes to DOJ
In his complaint, Binay said Trillanes, in an interview aired last聽April 7 over several radio and television programs, and in an article聽published in the April 8 issue of a newspaper, publicly claimed that聽members of the 6th Division of the Court of Appeals were given bribes聽in millions of pesos in exchange for the favorable action on the聽petitions for a temporary restraining order and the writ of聽preliminary injunction.
Binay said Trillanes was also quoted as saying that he and his family聽were 鈥減art of a syndicate鈥� that has committed various crimes and聽irregularities.
He pointed out that Trillanes himself had admitted during the聽interview that he had no valid proof or factual basis for his聽pronouncements.
The mayor said the acts of Trillanes in connection with the defamatory聽statements made against him constitute a violation of Article 355 in聽relation to Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code. Tetch Torres-Tupas, 黑料社/CDG