Counter Affidavit LIBEL

February 1, 2017 THE HONORABLE CITY PROSECUTOR Office of the Bacolod City Prosecutor Bacolod City, Neg. Occ. RE: COUNTER AFFIDAVIT FOR LIBEL I.S. NO. 1-2017 SIR: The undersigned counsel respectfully submits the hereto attached Counter-Affidavit of Respondents MANUEL “BOY” MEJORADA, ROMMEL S. YNION and JUNEP OCAMPO pertaining to the criminal complaint filed against them for LIBEL by the complainant JED PATRICK E. MABILOG. We respectfully request that aside from considering the counteraffidavit of the respondent, your office shall also set a clarificatory hearing by the parties in order to personally assess the credibility of their statements and possibly determine whose version of the story is the truth. Thank you very much for your usual kind accommodation on the matter! Very Truly Yours,

ATTY. MARY ANNE CANETE Counsel for the Respondents 6100 La Salle Avenue, Bacolod City Telephone No. (034) 123-4567 COPY FURNISHED: ATTY. JUAN DE LA CRUZ Counsel for Private Complainant Rm. 96 Habal Habal Bldg, Bacolod City.

Republic of the Philippines) Bacolod City ) S.c. x------------------------------------x COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT We, MANUEL “BOY” MEJORADA, ROMMEL S. YNION and JUNEP OCAMPO, all of legal age, Filipino citizens and with business office address at 2nd Floor, Baquillos Arcade, 24th Calamba Street, Brgy. Banago, Bacolod City, Philippines, after having been sworn in accordance with law do hereby depose and say: 1) That we are the respondents in I.S. Case No. 1-2017 filed against us by the herein complainant Jed Patrick E. Mabilog on the charge of Libel. 2) That we vehemently deny the material averments stated in the Complaint-Affidavit dated 20 January 2017 as the same are unwarranted conclusions of facts and pure machinations intended to harass us; 3) That the truth of the matter is hereunder set forth to wit:

4) That I (Respondent Mejorada) based my article on facts and written and published in consonance with my duty as a journalist to expose the truth, and comment on it, no matter how harsh, about the character and behavior of public officials, untainted by malice or intent to libel complainant herein.

5) That we did not maliciously impute any dishonor or discredit to the person of complainant herein; 6) That we therefore deny to have published or caused to publish any malicious imputation against complainants; 7) That the article was written in good faith and in pursuit of the public good; 8) That the document allegedly containing the defamatory imputations, in fact and in truth, does not contain defamatory matters that can be considered libelous. Being so, the Complaint-Affidavit failed miserably to ALLEGE, MUCH LESS ESTABLISH, that the alleged defamatory imputations in The News Today, Opinion Section page 5 (Vol. 12 No. 50) can be considered libelous;

9) That we are executing this affidavit in order to attest to all the foregoing facts and for whatever legal purpose it may best serve. Given the above arguments, it is apparent the instant complaint, as well as the evidences attached thereto, is not sufficient to engender a well-founded belief that an offense has been committed. There is no probable cause to hold us liable for LIBEL as defined in the Revised Penal Code. Thus, the present complaint SHOULD BE DISMISSED FOR UTTER LACK OF MERIT. Affiants sayeth naught.

MANUEL MEJORADA Affiant

ROMMEL S.YNION Affiant

JUNEP OCAMPO Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ____ day of February 2017 at Bacolod City, Neg. Occ. I hereby certify that I have personally examined the respondents and I am satisfied that they understood and voluntarily executed their counter-affidavit.

ASST. CITY PROS. RE CHARLES P. TUPAS Investigating Prosecutor

Doc. No. ______; Page No. ______; Book No. ______; Series of 2017.