SUPREME Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. yesterday filed libel charges against veteran journalist Marites Vitug in connection with the publication of her book which claimed that he used his position to lobby for the cases of his friends.

The two-page Information was filed before the Manila regional trial court after probable cause was established to indict her for her book, “Shadow of Doubt."

“(S)aid accused, with malicious intent of impeaching and besmirching the good name… of Velasco, and with evident intent of exposing him to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, feloniously and maliciously compose, prepare, write, publish, distribute and/or caused to be composed, prepared, wrote, published and distributed her book…, which statements contain(ed) false, malicious and offensive insinuations and highly libelous imputations,” the Information stated.

Citing a report of a court watchdog, Bantay Katarungan, Vitug alleged that in 2003, when Velasco, then an undersecretary of the Department of Justice in charge of the Commission on Settlement and Land Disputes (COSLAP), issued “questionable resolutions.”

"And when he became a justice of the Court of Appeals, had met with parties to cases and lobbied with his associates for favorable decisions," she added.

Vitug also claimed in her book that Velasco’s golfing buddies included shady characters and Chinese businessmen; and wealthy Chinese businessmen financed the golf tournaments that he organized for the judiciary.

In his complaint, Velasco claimed that the launching of Vitug’s book has the intention of “exposing him to dishonor, discredit, public hatred, contempt and ridicule.”

“It is settled jurisprudence that imputations against public officials, otherwise defamatory, are not actionable if it is shown that the defamatory statements relate to official conduct.

And, even if said statements are false, the same remain unactionable, unless the public official concerned proves actual malice, that is to say, that the author or writer, knowing the falsity of his statement or in reckless disregard of what is false or not, nonetheless proceeded with its publication or public dissemination,” the resolution stated.