Leo Andanar Lastimosa (born September 26, 1964) is a veteran tri-media

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

based in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was formerly an

anchorman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

for ABS-CBN's regional news program, TV Patrol Central Visayas, the host of the current affairs program '' Arangkada'' on radio station DYAB, and a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for Cebu's newspaper, ''

The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chambe ...

.''

Early life

Lastimosa is the son of a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

and a public school

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Growing up in poverty in Talisay, he had a dream of becoming a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. During high school, he decided to submit an unsolicited article to the publisher of The Freeman, a local daily in Cebu. His submission was published the next day, an event that encouraged him to pursue a journalistic

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

. He then took up a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the University of San Jose-Recoletos.

Career

His professional

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

career began in 1985 at DYLA-AM radio station. He later moved to another

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

, DYRF. During the height of the first

EDSA Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA (), is a major Ring road, circumferential road around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citi ...

revolution, he played a role in the

newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visu ...

operations at the radio station. In 1995, he became a news director in the newly-launched radio station, DYAB, and started hosting the regular

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

program, ''Banat Visayas, Sulong Mindanao''. He claimed he had received death threats in the course of his journalistic career. In 2003, he became an anchor for TV Patrol Central Visayas, which aired on ABS-CBN 3 Cebu. He also began writing a column called ''Arangkada'' in The Freeman, a local daily newspaper, using the Cebuano language.

Decriminalizing libel

In 2007, then Cebu

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Gwendolyn Garcia Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia-Codilla (born October 12, 1955) is a Filipino politician who has served as the 24th governor of Cebu since 2019. She previously held the position from 2004 to 2013 and served as the representative for Cebu's third distr ...

filed a libel case against Lastimosa. The suit alleged that Garcia was the subject of his column entitled ''Doling Kawatan (Doling the Thief)'' that was published on The Freeman last June 29, 2007. On August 27, 2010, Regional

Trial Court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

Branch 14 Judge Raphael Yrastorza signed a warrant of arrest against Lastimosa, who then posted

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. Lastimosa denied that Garcia was the subject of the article. On August 30, 2013, the court found Lastimosa guilty, and fined him ₱6,000 and an additional ₱2,000,000 for moral damages. He lost his

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

as the

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

upheld the lower court's decision. Attorney Celso Espinosa, his counsel, filed a motion for reconsideration to reverse the ruling of the appellate court. On December 5, 2022, Lastimosa was acquitted of all charges of libel against Garcia by the Supreme Court. His

conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

, as well as other similar high-level cases filed against journalists in the country, prompted renewed calls to decriminalize libel in defense of

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

CIDG subpoena

On August 17, 2018, Lastimosa appeared in the regional office of

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is the primary investigation arm of the Philippine National Police. History The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group was established as the Criminal Information Service whose origin tra ...

(CIDG) -

Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...

in response to a

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

that directed him to provide a copy of his interview with Senator

Antonio Trillanes Antonio "Sonny" Fuentes Trillanes IV (; born August 6, 1971) is a former Philippine naval officer and politician who served as a senator of the Philippines from 2007 to 2019. He is known for his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny of 2003 and t ...

on his radio show last September 8, 2017. The subpoena came after former

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

vice mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

Paolo Duterte Paolo "Pulong" Zimmerman Duterte (; ; born March 24, 1975) is a Filipino businessman and politician serving as the representative of Davao City's 1st district since 2019, and served as a House Deputy Speaker during the 18th Congress. Prior ...

, son of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

, requested the police to obtain a copy of the

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

in court for a libel case he was filing against Trillanes who accused him for being involved in Php 6.2 billion shabu shipment in 2016. Lastimosa executed an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...

stating that audio recordings were long deleted as radio stations were only mandated to keep the records for 10 days or 30 days when there is a court order. He also declined to authenticate a recording of the said interview presented by the CIDG.

''Give Up Tomorrow''

Lastimosa also appeared in the

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

Give Up Tomorrow alongside other journalists who were interviewed regarding the controversial conviction of Paco Laranaga, one of the suspects of the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of the Chiong sisters in the 1990s.

Personal life

Aside from journalism, he also ventured into

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. He penned the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

of ''Awit ni Dodong,'' the winning entry of the theme song contest for the Jose “Dodong” R. Gullas (JRG) Halad Museum. About a lover's hopes and fears for a beloved, the song was put into music by Emilio Villareal. Lastimosa married to practitioner Iris Jakosalem.

Awards

Lastimosa has won numerous awards and recognition for his work. Notably, the Talisay City Council passed a resolution congratulating him for his win at 2005 KBP Golden Dove Awards citing his "commendable competence, integrity and fairness in the field of newscasting and showed his dedication and deep love for his country and people by his humble service as a media man." * Best TV Newscaster, The 14th

Golden Dove Awards The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP; ) is a broadcast media organization in the Philippines which provides its members broadcasting standards. The KBP was organized on April 27, 1973 in order to promote professional and ethical s ...

of the

Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP; ) is a broadcast media organization in the Philippines which provides its members broadcasting standards. The KBP was organized on April 27, 1973 in order to promote professional and ethical s ...

(KBP) * Garbo Sa Sugbo, by the

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

Provincial Government in the field of broadcast journalism and television * Best TV News Program, TV Patrol Central Visayas, 16th Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards, 2013 * Outstanding Talisaynon, by the Talisay City Government in the field of media. * Hall of Fame, Radio News Category, Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards (CAMMA) * Hall of Fame, Radio Commentary Category, Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards (CAMMA) * Finalist, Column Writing Category, Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards (CAMMA) * Special Citation, ''Kasayurang Kinuykoyan'', National Press Club (NPC), 1991 * Best Public Affairs Program (Arangkada), KBP Golden Dove Awards, 1998 * Best Public Affairs Program Host, KBP Golden Dove Awards, 2002 * Best Commentary Program (''Kuwentas Klaras''), KBP Golden Dove Awards, 2002 * Best TV News Program, Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA-Manila), 2005

Filmography

Television

References

External links

Profile on Google Docs

Profile on Scribd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lastimosa, Leo 1964 births Living people People from Leyte (province) People from Cebu City Filipino television news anchors Filipino radio journalists ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people University of San Jose–Recoletos alumni