BOBBY NALZARO
Clad in his signature all-white polo shirt, pants, and leather shoes, tri-media personality Pablito “Bobby” Nalzaro surrendered to the Cebu City court today and posted bail for a libel case filed by former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Nalzaro paid a cash bond of P10,000 to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to secure temporary liberty pending resolution of the case.
Judge Ricky Jones Macabaya of the RTC branch 5 in Cebu City signed Nalzaro’s release order.
“This is one of the so-called hazards of the profession. I will not run away from this case. I’ll face this one. I have to dance with the music,” Nalzaro told reporters as he was about to leave Qimonda I.T. Center where the Cebu City courts are housed.
“Despite all these, I will not stop doing performing what I ought to do as a broadcast journalist,” he added.
Popularly known as “Super Bob,” Nalzaro anchors the afternoon news program 24 Oras Central Visayas in GMA 7 and a morning radio program over dySS where he is the station manager. His columns appear in Sun.Star Cebu and Super Balita.
His lawyer Joan Baron said they will ask the court to defer the arraignment and to suspend further proceedings while waiting for the Department of Justice to rule on their petition for review.
“We definitely could not determine how long the DOJ will resolve our pleading. While waiting for it, the court should suspend the proceedings in relation to this case,” she said.
Baron, along with lawyers Barbara Ocaba, Elias Espinosa, Eddie Barrita, and Pedro Leslie Salva, and veteran broadcast journalist Lloyd Suarez were among those who accompanied Nalzaro in posting bail.
Also present were some supporters and friends of Nalzaro led by Dr. Jay Ruiz and Fr. Mark Barneso.
The warrant of arrest against Nalzaro was enforced by Police Inspector Delfin Bontuyan of the the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7.
Bontuyan, who secured a copy of the warrant of arrest early today, went to GMA 7 and waited for Nalzaro to finished his morning program “Bobby Nalzaro on Board Saksi.”
Nalzaro voluntarily surrendered to Bontuyan who escorted the broadcast journalist to the trial court to post bail past 11 a.m.
Nalzaro was accused of “intentionally” and “maliciously” maligning Osmeña in his column published in Sun.Star Cebu on Oct. 25, 2014.
Osmeña claimed that Nalzaro accused him of fabricating charges against Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas in an attempt to sabotage the administration of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.
The former mayor had earlier filed 38 counts in an administrative complaint against Cuevas before the Department of Finance over alleged lapses in handling financial transactions of Cebu City based on findings of the 2012 and 2013 audit reports of the Commission on Audit (COA).
In his resolution, Prosecutor Jesus Rodrigo Taga-an said Nalzaro’s use of the word “fabricated” has placed Osmeña in a bad light.
The prosecutor said Osmeña was able to show a proof that the administrative cases he filed against Cuevas were not fabricated and were all based on the findings of COA./ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL