Lawmaker files libel raps vs Bohol gubernatorial candidate, 2 others

Rep. Maria Vanessa Aumentado of Bohol’s second district. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Van-van Cadorna Aumentado

TAGBILARAN CITY — A Boholana lawmaker has filed four separate libel cases against a gubernatorial candidate and two others for allegedly spreading defamatory and slanderous statements against her and members of her family.

Rep. Maria Vanessa Aumentado of Bohol’s second district is seeking P60 million in damages from gubernatorial candidate lawyer Dan Neri Lim, his son Dan Ismael, and Arlene Karaan, a former village chief of Tagbilaran.

Lim is running for governor against Maria Vanessa’s husband, incumbent Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, in the coming May elections.

Sought for comment, Lim said the filing of the charges was tainted with political color.

“Why did she (Maria Vanessa) file it during election time? It’s not timely. I will reply after the elections,” he told the Inquirer over the phone.

Karaan shared the same sentiments but acknowledged Maria Vanessa’s right to file a complaint.

” I will answer it at the right time,” she said.

Dan Ismael, for his part, claimed he is not using the account used to malign Maria Vanessa.

“I have been told many times about this certain account Dan Ismael C. Lim. I am here to tell you, that is not my account. I am in no control of that account,” he said.

READ: Bohol Rep. Aumentado sues husband’s opponent, two others

In her formal complaint filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City on April 15, Maria Vanessa said Lim and Karaan allegedly uttered defamatory and slanderous statements questioning the paternity of her daughter which was livestreamed in their radio program and shared on social media platforms last March 26.

Maria Vanessa said Lim and Karaan’s declaration that her youngest daughter has a different father and is not a full-blooded sibling to her three brothers constitute malice that destroyed her reputation.

She said they have, in effect, maliciously insinuated that she is unfaithful to her husband and has brought a spurious child into their marriage.

Maria Vanessa also filed three counts of online libel against Dan Ismael over “false, defamatory and malicious” allegations against her on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Dan Ismael, she said, accused her of corruption.

In addition to the libel cases, she also filed a case against Lim and Karaan before the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Intramuros, Manila for casting aspersions on her person, tarnishing her reputation, and subjecting her to public scorn and disgrace.

She stressed that their malicious imputations caused her “sleepless nights, serious anxiety, mental anguish, loss of appetite and deep sense of dishonor not only as a public official, but more importantly as a mother and a wife.”

Maria Vanessa said Lim and Karaan committed gender-based harassment, willful and malicious utterances of lewd statements, and unwanted sexual, misogynistic, and sexist remarks during this election period.

She claimed that both Lim and Karaan publicly mocked and ridiculed her by uttering intrusive remarks that were offensive to her personal dignity.

Maria Vanessa emphasized that Lim and Karaan’s public tirade were certainly uncalled for and in bad taste, done in utter disrespect to her dignity as a woman, and a clear violation of Comelec’s anti-discrimination policy./###