Carpio’s camp: Inquirer address given in good faith in Lustre’s warrant

MANILA, Philippines – Atty. Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, provided the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s office address as Philip Lustre’s last known address in “good faith,” Carpio’s spokesperson, Atty. Neil Abayon, said on Thursday.

Lustre, a veteran journalist, was arrested last Saturday on a cyberlibel charge without having received a complaint beforehand because the subpoenas had been sent to the wrong address.

“The Inquirer’s business address was furnished in good faith as the respondent’s last known ascertainable professional address. The subsequent claim that the address is not his residence does not, by itself, invalidate the complainant’s reasonable reliance on that address,” Abayon wrote in a statement.

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READ: Chief prosecutor warns giving false addresses in complaints is perjury

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Due to the service of a warrant without the respondent’s prior knowledge of a complaint, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said Lustre was deprived of due process.

But Abayon explained that the complainant should not be expected to provide Lustre’s residential address when it is not publicly available. 

“Where the respondent’s residential address cannot be ascertained despite diligent efforts, the complainant may reasonably rely on a publicly ascertainable professional address supported by verifiable information connecting the respondent to that location,” he wrote in Carpio’s defense. 

Though not an employee, Lustre has contributed his works to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This, Abayon stated, is Carpio’s reference for associating Lustre with the Inquirer’s office address.

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“The complainant cannot reasonably be expected to furnish a residential address that is neither publicly disclosed nor otherwise ascertainable despite diligent efforts,” Abayon further stressed.

Carpio sued the 72-year-old journalist and Duterte critic after a Facebook post written under Lustre’s name alleged that Carpio paid millions to the supposed ex-Marines.

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The post referred to 18 individuals who claimed to deliver cash-filled suitcases from ex-Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to other public figures, including politicians. /jpv