ooIf how to survive death-defying road accidents is a true test of a good driver, what about surviving a string of libel cases as a journalist? For sure, to a journalist who considers libel as part of the territory, being sued in court with the crime is to some, a badge of honor.

We are no exception. After more than 30 years in the business, we presumed that among local newspapermen, nobody can hold candle to this Bglante in terms of libel cases. Not that we are flaunting these journalistic exploits. It so happens that those whom we allegedly libeled found us an attractive respondent. In fact, if truth is to be told, we are the only journalist hereabouts that won a landmark decision for the crime from the Supreme Court after the high court overturned a decision from the lower courts that found us guilty of libel.

The landmark decision has since been part of the jurisprudence in libel which journalists can invoke if they will be similarly charged. To lift a leaf from the decision, the high court found our argument that where a private citizen was considered a public figure, truth is a potent defense. It used to be that truth was not a defense in libel until the People vs Guingguing was promulgated.

We made libel as a centerpiece of this column after we learned that three pillars of Philippine journalism—the Tulfo brothers, were the recipients of several counts of libel courtesy of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. No ordinary complainant he is, Ramon Tulfo in his column yesterday at the Philippine Daily Inquirer lamented the use of naked power as he and his two brothers—Raffy and Erwin, were made to bear the full impact of FG's wrath.

It may be a consolation on the part of the Tulfo brothers if the means in which they can get even with the FG were not slowly taken out of them. For example, the Tulfo brothers were stripped of their highly rated TV program over RPN 9. Ramon was also made to resign from Station DWIZ in his daily radio program.

The only outlets that remain to this day as Ramon goes on with his journalism pursuit are his columns at the Philippine Daily Inquirer and its sister publication Bandera. How will the Tulfo brothers fare against the might of the First Gentleman as they tangle in an array of libel suits is anybody's guess. One thing sure, the libel cases not only send a strong message to the respondents that you cannot mess up with the FG. They also deliver a chilling effect to local media practitioners.