A Damocles Sword on Bloggers; The Case of Ella Ganda Sued for Libel

February 2nd, 2010 → 12:36 pm @ elmot

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A Damocles Sword on Bloggers; The Case of Ella Ganda Sued for Libel




The fight is heating up.  Sec. Esperanza Cabral is just starting her vengeance.  Yet blogger Ella Ganda is not bucking down.

It all started when Ella shared her grave concern over her blog on October 2009 about so many relief goods stagnated or the words she preferred to use was “rotting” on a DSWD warehouse, the lack of volunteers and the inefficiency of the then DSWD Sec. Esperanza Cabral (now secretary of the Department of Health) on handling the relief operation of the government while millions of Filipinos are languishing over the fury of Typhoon Ondoy.  But the secretary though also admitted that there was indeed an overflowing of relief good on their warehouse with even President Arroyo herself getting angry for seeing stagnated relief caravans in the Palace premises instead moving out to affected areas.

But as the present administration has made a great name out of itself being over allergic against public scrutiny and accountability, Cabral retaliated by saying that she and her department was gravely abused by Ella and defamed despite of their best efforts to work “around the clock”.  She then asked the legal department of DSWD to study the filing of libel case against the blogger; and most recently the National Bureau of Investigation filed a libel case against Ella Ganda in behalf of the Sec. Cabral.

Cabral certainly shamed herself and created a great disaster out of her move to run after a blogger who shared her sentiments and great concern as a responsible citizen during a time when thousands of fellow Filipinos were hungry, homeless, and helpless against the fury of an angered nature.

I can somewhat remember when a province in Taiwan(?) was hit by a strong typhoon while its administrator was having dinner at an expensive hotel celebrating an anniversary (brings back the memory of GMA’s million-peso dinners).  The disaster left many people homeless, with deaths recorded and the cry for accountability echoed from the hoarse voices of victims.  The leader has lost face that he chose to resign from his post and literally bowed down on his knees to the people asking for their forgiveness for his inefficiency as a public servant during a time of disaster.

Unfortunately, Sec. Cabral has chosen the path to scourge people who are actively engaging in the democratic processes of the governance of our country, instead of being humble enough to admit that public good and welfare is far more superior than individual pride.  She rather chose to cloth herself with a vindictive spirit and ran after those who speak of the truth for the sake of freedom, responsibility and accountability of public officials to its citizens, sending the obvious message that  bloggers will not just walk away unpunished from bureaucrats – who will use the power of the state against its own people.

She may look stupid when this case is eventually heard in court, but who knows, when the court tilts to her side, this case will cause a legal precedent against all bloggers and social media users.

This move by Sec. Cabral is like hanging a Damocles sword on all bloggers and netizens who will attempt to raise inconvenient questions against public officials and scrutinize any moves of government agencies.  Sec. Cabral, pissed off with the stir she caused, even called Ella with these words,

We do not deserve this demolition job that was started by some publicity hungry bimbo that is now being gleefully carried forward by all sorts of characters of dubious motivation and media outfits who have seen a chance to yet attack a government that they do not like.

Bloggers should therefore stand up as one and protect the inherent rights of everyone to freedom of expression, adherence to the truth and upright governance, and accountability of public servants to its people.

Only a state of dictatorship permits this brazen kind of bullying of a public official.

What is your opinion of Sec. Cabral filing and using the power of the government on filing charges against Ella Ganda?  Any implications on blogging that you can see with this legal move by the government against a blogger?  What should bloggers do as a response to this issue?

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