Capitol exec threatens to sue broadcaster over bid tirades

Orvi Ortega

An official of the Cebu provincial government said he would file libel charges against Bobby Nalzaro if the broadcaster continues to malign him in the latter’s radio dySS program and newspaper column over the bidding for the Capitol’s P27 million security services contract.

In a press conference yesterday, Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said Nalzaro’s “baseless and false” accusations of  corruption in the bidding have hurt his family and  parents.

“I don’t have an intention as of yet to file a case against him. But after this press con, if he (Nalzaro) continues attacking me, I’m not challenging him, but in my right as a person, I will file a case against him. We’ll just see each other in court if that is what he wants,” he told reporters.

Ortega said  Nalzaro’s commentaries against him in his morning radio show, and the  most recent one mentioning Ortega’s new SUV and his columns in the tabloid Sun.Star Superbalita are part of “a well-funded demolition job.”

He said he is compiling the published columns and has asked people to monitor Nalzaro’s broadcast commentaries.

“But if he is man enough, he should stop his insults against me because he has no right to ruin my name in the same vein that no person can destroy his,” Ortega said.

Nalzaro in turn asked Ortega to “make good  his threat.”

He also challenged Ortega to step down from his post as provincial attorney.

“I challenge Mr. Ortega to make good his threat. I will wait for that,” he said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.

“I challenge you to resign as member of the Bids and Awards Committee or even as provincial attorney kay ikaw ray naghatag ug mantsa sa administration ni Gov. Junjun (Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III),” he added.

Ortega said he understood Nalzaro’s choice of on-air commentaries on the Cebu provincial government’s previous decision to allow the Black Pearl Security Agency to deploy personnel in the provincial properties since it was “part of his job as a media practitioner.”

Reputation
But he said Nalzaro went out of bounds when he started to question Ortega’s new vehicle, a Ford EcoSport acquired through a car loan.

He said Nalzaro accused him of receiving bribe money after favoring Black Pearl in the bidding process.

“I have great respect for the media because democracy is dead without it. There will be no Edsa 1 without the media as an institution and there will be no change in the country,” Ortega said.

“But I just fear that the power of the media could fall in the hands of a person who will use the craft as a tool to destroy one’s reputation. In that particular case, media became an instrument of bullying as far as that person is concerned,” he added.

Ortega cited three reasons behind Nalzaro’s criticisms.

Accusing finger
“First, I saw that the brains behind this is one of the bidders who want to exact revenge against me because they lost. Second, there are also politicians who have interest and they saw that I could be a potential threat. This could be a demolition job to destroy my reputation. Third, through me, they want to stain the name of the governor because they cannot sling any accusations against him.”

Last week, Davide called for a rebidding of the province’s P37 million security services contract after disqualifying Black Pearl from the post-qualification bidding process.

The bid cannot push through since there were only two remaining bidders that could undergo post-qualification evaluation.  Nalzaro asked Ortega to “face the issues squarely” and stop diverting the issue.

“I’m not pretending to be clean and incorruptible but in my 34 years in this business, nobody can point an accusing finger that they paid me to destroy one’s reputation,” he said.

“On the issue that a losing security agency is behind this, I challenge Ortega to scan all my columns and commentaries if I endorsed a particular agency. I challenge him to name names. Mr. Ortega, don’t divert this issue. Face it squarely,” he added.

Aside from writing a column in Sun.Star’s Cebuano and English newspapers, Nalzaro also anchors GMA 7’s Balitang Bisdak daily newscast and is the station manager of dySS where he hosts a morning radio show.