Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro is claiming half a billion pesos in damages from Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, citing harm to her reputation and the personal toll she says his libel case has taken on her.
Castro confirmed Monday she included the P500-million demand as a compulsory counterclaim in the ongoing legal dispute between the two. “I believe that because of twisting some facts in the complaint, it ruined my integrity as Palace Press officer,” she told reporters at the Palace. “I believe I am entitled to such damages.”
The counterclaim comes in response to a libel case Leviste filed against Castro in January, in which the lawmaker accused her of making “untrue, reckless, and malicious” statements about his business interests. Castro has maintained that her statements were drawn from Ombudsman findings and from Leviste’s own pronouncements.
Leviste went public with the counterclaim through a social media post, saying he had “no obligation” to pay. “Humihingi si USec Claire Castro na bayaran ko siya dahil sa ‘sleepless nights and anxiety’ na dulot umano ng kasong isinampa ko laban sa kanya,” he wrote. He added: “Wala akong obligasyong bayaran siya. Pero kung kailangan niyang magpagamot ngayon, bukal sa loob kong sagutin ang kanyang gastusin sa ospital.”
Castro, rather than taking issue with the post, said it could work in her favor. “He admitted that he is causing me sleepless nights and anxiety so that will be part of the case,” she said, calling Leviste’s statement “very good.”
Castro’s counterclaim now puts the lawmaker’s own words on record as potential evidence in the case he initiated against her.
