2 days Ago By Dwight de Leon, Frencie Carreon
window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "middle-1" );window.
rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );MANILA, Philippines – House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe, among the closest allies of Speaker Martin Romualdez, has filed a cyber libel complaint against news publication Manila Times over a report that outlined the Marcos administration’s alleged dirty tactics in the run-up to the 2025 elections.The report, published on April 23, claimed that a leaked document supposedly signed by Dalipe detailed how to deliberately undermine the Dutertes, such as the House inquiry into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, his eventual arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant, and the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Dalipe, who filed the complaint on on Monday, April 28, denied the authenticity of the so-called “Oplan Horus” document.“The deliberate omission to verify the falsified document with me, despite its facially dubious content and obvious implausibility, compounded by an explicit denial from another party, amounts to a blatant disregard for the truth,” Dalipe said in a press release after filing the complaint with the Zamboanga City Prosecutor’s Office. Dalipe insisted that the article “malignly alleged” that he “supposedly engineered a plan to impeach the Vice President, including the use of government resources and political maneuvering to bribe senators into securing votes for her removal, orchestrated efforts to disqualify candidates supported by the Vice President and other allies through the filing of supposed trumped-up criminal charges, and participated in the preparation and allocation of large sums of cash for use in propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
”Rappler reached out to Manila Times, but the publication declined to comment, as it still waits for a copy of the complaint. This story will be updated once they issue a statement.Named as respondents aside from the entire publication are:Manila Times president Dante Francis Ang IIManila Times chief financial officer Michael Alexander AngManila Times directors Anna Marie Thompson, Dante Ang, Ma.
Preciosa Monica DV, Ang, Joanna Paola Ang, Michele Denise Saludo, Joseph Noel EstradaManila Times editors Arnold Belleza, Leena Calso Chua, Lynette Luna, Tessa Mauricio-Arriola, Conrad Cariño, Emil Noguera, Frederick Nasiad, Dafort Villaseran, Rene DilanManila Times reporters Red Mendoza, Kaiser Jan Fuentes, Catherine ValenteDalipe is a right-hand man of Romualdez, tasked with keeping Lakas-CMD’s 100-plus congressmen in line — the largest bloc in the House of Representatives. It’s a crucial role that helped the majority deliver 215 signatures to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte in February for on the grounds of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.Dape is now term-limited, and is running for mayor of Zamboanga City.
The April 23 article of the Manila Times quoted Alyansa campaign manager Toby Tiangco as saying that the document was fake, and that “Dalipe himself categorically denied its authenticity.”The report, however, insisted that the document was authentic, citing an unnamed source. – Rappler.
com.
