Sportswriter: No Comment on Pacquiao’s P30-M Libel Case
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 02 Aug 2007
Veteran sportswriter Nick Giongco has refused to issue any statement regarding the reported P30-million libel case filed against him by boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.
“I haven’t received the final complaint,” the 37-year-old Giongco who writes for the Manila Bulletin and Tempo said in a text message when reached by this writer for comment. “(If I will talk about the case) I might preempt the judge who will eventually hear the case.”
Sources said Giongco is unfazed as he wrote the article “on good faith and without any malice whatsoever.”
“What will Mr. Giongco get if he will maliciously slander a national icon who is also his friend for a long time?” commented a fellow sportswriter.
Inquirer News Service reported last July 31 that Pacquiao Monday filed a P30-million libel case against the well-traveled Giongco.
The case, filed in Pacquiao’s hometown in General Santos City by lawyer Franklin Gacal, reportedly stemmed from an article written by Giongco in the newspaper’s July 25 issue.
The news service said one of the items that caught the ire of the World Boxing Council international super-featherweight titlist was the phrase, “he is reported to be a compulsive gambler and is known to bet hundreds of thousands in casinos, cockfighting and billiards.”
The article came out after it was reported that Pacquiao cancelled his trip to the United States where he was supposed to appear in a press conference to promote his Oct. 6 rematch with former world champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico.
The 28-year-old multi-millionaire instead made an unannounced trip to Cebu and visited his business partner Rex “Wakee” Salud.
Some newspapers described Pacquiao’s Cebu trip as “a spur of the moment” reportedly after a little misunderstanding with his wife Jinky.
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