BACOLOD City – A pastor here dismissed as erroneous the report that he was arrested on Feb. 23, 2021 for frustrated homicide and libel.
“It is factual error that I am facing a ‘homicide try’ case. Nowhere in the police blotter report issued by Bacolod Police Station 4 that I was arrested in a homicide case but rather in two counts of libel,” stressed Pastor Reuben Macaya in a letter to Panay News dated April 12.
Macaya was referring to the report of Cyrus Garde which appeared in the Feb. 25, 2021 issue of this paper.
Part of the report titled Pastor nabbed for ‘homicide try, libel’ stated: “Facing frustrated homicide and libel charges, a church pastor was arrested in Barangay Estefania. Resident Reuben Macaya, 56, was caught on the strength of an arrest warrant around 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 23.”
Macaya asked that the report be rectified.
“That Garde or your editors failed to quote the source/s of their report (as a real journalist would do) to the extent that they caused to tarnish my name as a Pastor and as a human being, the serious accusation of ‘homicide try’ depicted that I, as a Pastor who preaches the word of God, has a criminal instinct ‘to kill’; neither was the detail of such homicide case provided, including case numbers, name/s of complainant and brief circumstances of the supposed case as expected from a reputable news agency as yours. It can be adduced that the report published was based on hearsay and not on actual facts,” according to the Pastor.
Attached with the letter was a copy of the police blotter report issued by Bacolod Police Station 4 to show that indeed there was no homicide case, and two orders of provisional release for Criminal Case No. 6505 and Criminal Case No. 6506 signed by Regional Trial Court Branch 63 Judge Cyclamen Fernandez in La Carlota City.
The questioned report further stated, “However, Macaya claimed he was not feeling well and asked to be taken to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center in Barangay Taculing. Officers of Police Station 4 placed the suspect under hospital arrest. A P60,000 bail bond was recommended for his temporary liberty.”
Macaya pointed out another “factual error that the officers of Police Station 4 placed the suspect under hospital arrest.”
“If Garde or your editors were diligent enough, they would have known that the arresting officers were members of the La Carlota Police Office and not the officers of Bacolod City Police Station 4, the latter merely had the arrest recorded, considering the fact that the arrest was made within the territorial jurisdiction of Bacolod City. That Garde or your editors failed to verify the correctness of the facts, it has been a one-sided publication, disregarding my side of the story,” according to the Pastor./PN
