In Iloilo, radio blocktimer gets 2 years for cyberlibel
ILOILO CITY—A local court found a radio blocktimer in Iloilo guilty of cyberlibel over his commentaries against a contractor based in Guimaras province in 2020.
Judge Victorino Maniba Jr. of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 39 in Iloilo found sufficient evidence to convict Salvador “Jun” Capulot Jr. of three counts of cyberlibel.
Capulot was meted a jail term of up to two years and was ordered to pay P150,000 in moral damages, P100,000 in exemplary damages, and P50,000 in attorney’s fees.
In an interview aired over RMN Iloilo, lawyer Aida Rose Villanueva, counsel for the complainant, Shariko Salcedo, said the case stemmed from Capulot’s on-air statements made in September and October in 2020 when he repeatedly referred to a “contractor in Guimaras” using the moniker of National Basketball Association superstar Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal.
According to Villanueva, Capulot linked her client to alleged corruption and drug use in his radio program on RMN Patrol 774.
Villanueva said Capulot made it easier for listeners to identify Salcedo, a contractor widely known in Guimaras by his nickname “Shaq.”
Capulot, a native of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, started as a volunteer reporter for dyEZ Aksyon Radyo and RMN Bacolod before moving to Iloilo in 1996.
In 2022, Capulot ran but lost to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas in the mayoral race.
The Iloilo Media-Citizens Council (IMCC) weighed in on the court’s ruling, stressing the need to reform libel laws in the country.
“We reiterate the long-standing call of the media community to decriminalize, not abrogate, libel,” IMCC said in a statement.
“The intent is not to shield erring journalists from accountability but to uphold the constitutional guarantee of free expression while preventing the chilling effect of criminal sanctions on legitimate and critical journalism,” it added.
