Corazon Aquino – Louie Beltran Libel Case

Posted on November 18th, 2009 by burgerboy

Luis “Louie” Beltran is one of the pinnacles of Filipino Broadcasting. He was one of the most harhitting journalists on print and on TV during his time. Not afraid of expressing himself even though faced with adversities, he was arrested and detained in Camp Crame because of his expose’s. He gained fame and notoriety when President Cory Aquino filed a libel case against him because he wrote in one of his articles that the late President “hid under her bed” during the coup d’ etat attempt in 1987. The late President even invited press into her bedroom to show that she can’t possibly hide under her “box” type bed.

Beltran openly expressed his opinion that the late President Cory Aquino was lacking competence and explained that his statement in the article was a figure of speech and was not to be taken literally but the late President still pursued the case. On October 22, 1992, the court ruled in the late President’s favor sending the columnist and his editor to jail for 2 years and paying moral damages amounting to 2 million pesos. The case was then thrown out of court by the Court of appeals almost 3 years since Louie Beltran died in September 1994.

In my humble opinion, the statement Louie Beltran wrote in his article was not libelous. He wrote that President Corazon Aquino “hid under her bed” during the coup d’ etat as a figure of speech and not to be taken literally. He was very vocal and outspoken about his belief that the President was lacking in competence and his statement was to drive the point home. It was to reach out to the President to stand up and fight back or it was to reach out to the Filipinos that we should be more vigilant because we have a weak President during the time.

Looking at President Aquino’s corner, it was proper action that she filed this libel case since she was being scrutinized as weak. Doing this proved to everyone that she is not afraid to fight someone as frightening as Louie Beltran who does not waver in the face of adversity.

It was a bit appalling for me to see two Filipino icons clash because of indifference. President Aquino was an icon of Integrity as well as the strength of a woman while Louie Beltran was an icon of courage and freedom of speech. Both of them were admirable people who we left us with their respective legacies that we should be proud of as Filipinos.

Sources:
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Louie_Beltran
http://www.cockatoo.com/english/philippines/philippines_insight_media.htm

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