Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday has filed his counter-affidavit in response to the libel complaints against him by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Quezon City.
In his 26-page counter-affidavit, Roque stressed that the former lawmaker’s libel charges should be dismissed for lack of probable cause.
To recall, Trillanes on 14 May filed separate libel and cyber-libel complaints against Roque and other “pro-Duterte” personalities — including Sonshine Media Network International hosts and executives, a certain Guillermina Barrido, and vlogger Byron Cristobal, also known as Banat By — before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
Trillanes’ libel cases stemmed from Roque’s allegations that the former senator was selling and giving away the Scarborough Shoal in “backchannel negotiations” with Chinese officials in 2012.
Roque accused Trillanes of “betraying the public trust.”
“As a public figure, Trillanes should not have been onion-skinned in reacting to my criticisms of his conduct in his backchannel mission to China,” Roque said.
He also lamented that his livestream discusses matters of public interest such as sovereignty and sovereign rights “that deserve utmost discussion and should be insulated from libel judgment.”
“The Complainant allowed himself to be persuaded, induced, or influenced to violate the 1987 Constitution and the rules of the Senate. The negotiation was grossly disadvantageous to the government,” Roque said.
The former presidential mouthpiece previously said Trillanes was the designated negotiator by then President Benigno Aquino III.
“He undertook many clandestine trips and talks with Chinese authorities, and lo and behold, we lost our physical possession of Scarborough,” Roque said. “He has never made public what in fact he negotiated with China. This is a fact. Then Senate President [Juan Ponce] Enrile threatened to expose his deeds. The latter desisted because of national security concerns.”
Earlier, Cristobal played a clip of Roque’s remarks about Trillanes’ alleged selling of Scarborough Shoal and then expressed his concurrence with the statements as Roque said Trillanes, as a senator, “failed to observe the standards of nationalism, patriotism and commitment to democracy, in violation of RA 6713.”
Also, Roque said the elements of the crimes of libel and cyber libel “are missing in the video concerned in the case,” where he spoke about Trillanes.
“Absent any proof of actual malice in the allegedly libelous statements in my video, there is no Cyberlibel or Libel since an essential element of the crime is missing in the statements made in the video,” Roque said.
Aside from the counter-affidavit, Roque also submitted a counter-charge against Trillanes for violating RA 3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act” and RA 6713, or the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.”
“The acts and omissions of the Complainant in relation to his participation in the backdoor ‘high stakes negotiations’ are inconsistent with the time-honored principle that a public office is a public trust,” Roque’s counter-charge read.
He added that the “backroom negotiation” was “grossly disadvantageous to the government” as Trillanes performed an “executive function while he was a legislator.”
Roque said this act of the former senator “contravened the doctrine of separation of powers and the constitutional prohibition on holding another public office.”
“The Complainant allowed himself to be persuaded, induced, or influenced to violate the 1987 Constitution and the rules of the Senate. The negotiation was grossly disadvantageous to the government,” the former presidential spokesperson said.