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December 18, 2007
Court junks P5.5-million libel case against toxicologist and journalist daughter
A P5.5-million libel case against toxicologist Dr. Romeo Quijano and his daughter, journalist Ilang-Ilang Quijano, has been dismissed by a regional trial court in Davao City.
The seven-year-old civil damage suit was filed by banana-growing company Lapanday Agricultural and Development Corp. (Ladeco) because of an article written by the Quijanos and published in 2000, "Poisoned Lives," which chronicled the detrimental effects of the plantation's pesticides on the villagers of Kamukhaan in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
The RTC in Davao said there was insufficient evidence against the Quijanos.
According to Ilang-Ilang Quijano, features editor of Pinoy Weekly, "The case dismissal upholds the right of the people to know and the duty of journalists and advocates alike to reveal what should be known. This is a victory not only of press freedom, but of the people whom the press must serve. Suits meant to harass the press and environmentalists to protect the interests of a few should not have been allowed to prosper in the first place."
IFJ-NUJP Safety Media Office