Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo 'Jamby' Madrigal on Thursday filed a PhP100-M libel charge against a former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) official before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Madrigal filed the libel case against former DENR Secretary Mike Defensor with the Office of Senior State Prosecutor Diana P. Perez upon instruction by DOJ.
The case stemmed from the accusations of Defensor that the family of Madrigal has vast mining and logging interest in the country.
The senator vehemently denied the accusation.
According to the senator, she, herself, was surprised that the DOJ has directed her to file a libel case because of the ex-DENR secretary's allusions against her family in connection with mining and logging interest.
The senator said that in 2005 she challenged Defensor to deny that some 2,000 people in Aurora and Quezon provinces died due to illegal logging and mining.
Turning the table on her accuser, Madrigal claimed that Defensor is the one involved in logging and mining being one of the biggest mining partners of China in the Philippines.
The senator promised that if she wins the case, she would use the PhP 100-M for the construction of new houses and for livelihood of the families of illegal logging and mining victims in Aurora and Quezon Provinces.
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