Carillo offers 10K reward to stop ‘libelous flyers’

The sample flyer which was described as ‘libelous” by Cebu City Gerry Carillo. (CDN PHOTO/ JOSE SANTINO BUNACHITA)

CEBU City Councilor Gerardo Carillo is offering a P10,000 reward to those who can catch people posting and distributing flyers with “libelous” statements against him and other Team Rama candidates.

In a press conference at City Hall yesterday, Carillo, who is running for the city’s south congressional district, said the materials have been circulating mostly in the city’s south barangays.

“Our adversaries have resorted to mudslinging. This is clearly mudslinging. It’s a desperate move. It’s pathetic,” he said.

Carillo said he received information about it as well as copies of the materials from supporters last Sunday.

Among the accusations hurled against Carillo was his being involved in a bar brawl in which he was accused of bashing a teenager on the head with a stone.

He was also labelled as “suspended” and “disqualified”, referring to a six-month disciplinary suspension ordered against Carillo as a lawyer by the Supreme Court in 2003.

But he said the corresponding civil case against him in relation to that case was later on dismissed by the Regional Trial Court.

“This is not relevant. I won already several elections and it has nothing to do with my qualifications as a candidate right now. This has something to do with my profession. This is not an election issue,” he said.

Carillo also said no case came out of the bar incident, and the police cleared him of involvement.

“To say I have a case is indeed libelous. It has no basis in fact and in law,” he said.

He said he will also file cases against each one of those who will be caught posting the materials.

He reminded those spreading the materials that the penalty for libel is much bigger than what they probably get from posting and distributing the flyers.

Aside from Carillo, Mayor Michael Rama was also attacked in the same flyer which mentioned about his suspension, his alleged penchant for “drama” and being allegedly a “drug addict.”

The flyer even creatively jumbled the list of Team Rama candidates for south district councilors so that their initials would form the word “D’ CORAPTS.”

The letters stand for the family names of Team Rama bets Jose Daluz III, James Anthony Cuenco, Renato Osmeña Jr., Edu Rama, Hanz Abella, Joy Pesquera, Dave Tumulak and Lotlot Ignacio-Soon.

Sought for his comment, Mayor Rama called the incident a “sign of desperation.”