BAGUIO Councilor Mylen Yaranon has filed raps against Mayor Benjamin Magalong for libel and slander on Wednesday, October 12 over accusations of “twisting facts and figures” and “politicking.”
Yaranon filed her slander complaint with the Office of the City Prosecutor, claiming that Magalong’s statements during a July 4 speech at the City Hall “dishonored and discredited” her, while the libel complaint was over an open letter posted on Magalong’s Facebook page.
The open letter and speech came from differing opinions regarding the development plans for the former BIBAK dormitory lot on Harrison Road and issues about the rehabilitation of the city’s public market.
In the open letter, Magalong claimed that Yaranon, who had publicly posted against the redevelopment of the BIBAK lot, was misinforming the public and politicizing the matter by bringing up former Vice President Leni Robredo’s name in the matter.
Yaranon claims that Magalong meanwhile had accused her of matters beyond the development projects, with accusations of supporting “adversarial political parties,” inaction when the architects called for the development of the public market asked for 10 percent of the total cost of the project, and inaction against the alleged sub-standard projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Yaranon is asking for P500,000 to compensate her “moral damages, anxiety, depression and sleepless nights.”
“Mayor Magalong clearly attacked and discredited my reputation not only as a public official but also as a person,” Yaranon stated in her complaint.
She added: “He (Magalong) insinuated that I am a person of no principle and a public official that is not doing anything on matters of public interest.”
Magalong has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
