Chess in our lives

I got this news from Inq7.net. This news item draw my interest since it reflects a real-life example of how chess influences -- negatively or positively -- the lives of those who are into it.


"DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The Department of Justice has ordered the Dumaguete City Prosecutor's Office to withdraw libel charges against a defendant for lack of probable cause – three years after he was convicted of the crime.

"Thank you, Lord! The Lord is really good! Things are falling into place," Florendo Zamora, a chess teacher and organizer of chess tournaments here, declared upon receiving the DoJ resolution dated November 19, 2008.

However, the DoJ resolution signed by Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda came too late. Zamora had, in fact, served his sentence.

Zamora had been sentenced to a prison term of four months by Judge Victor Patrimonio of RTC Branch 35 on Dec. 2, 2005 and slapped with a fine of P75,000 in moral damages for besmirching the reputation of chess National Master Rosendo Bandal, Jr., the presiding judge of RTC Branch 34 in Dumaguete City.

Bandal filed six counts of libel against Zamora and fellow chess player Alex Bangay in 2002 but only one case prospered, with Bangay cleared of all the charges.

Bandal, former president of the chess team Negros Club 64 where Zamora and Bangay are also members, had left the club over some differences and formed his own Chess Master's Club in 2002.

In May 2002, Bandal's club hosted the Governor's Cup Open Chess Team Tournament and Bandal placed a poster of the tournament in the Negros Club 64's headquarters.

Zamora, the court records showed, removed the poster and replaced it with a hand-written notice that said, when translated into English, "Hey! Practice being civilized. Please ask permission before posting."

Bandal said the handwritten notice gave readers the impression that he was uncivilized, ill mannered or impolite.

Lawyer Saleto Erames, Zamora's counsel for most of the trial, called the situation "a legal comedy."

"On one hand, the DoJ resolution would seem to render the trial void from the very beginning but on the other hand, there is the principle of estoppel," Erames told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Estoppel is the principle that precludes a person from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or statement of that person or by a previous pertinent judicial determination.

Erames said he gave a pro-bono legal assistance to Zamora, who entered a not guilty plea on February 2, 2004.

However, Erames said he withdrew as counsel when Zamora decided to change his plea to "guilty."

But for Bandal, the DoJ resolution clearing Zamora did not mean a thing.

"The ruling of DoJ does not divest the courts of jurisdiction. It has no legal significance insofar as his conviction is concerned," he said in a telephone interview.

Zamora was detained in jail right after his conviction. However, he was able to process his application for probation so he stayed in jail for only 11 days.

"I was released just before we were about to organize an inter-cell chess tournament," Zamora said.

Bandal did not require Zamora to pay the P75,000 fine, saying that he did not ask for money. By Alex PalVisayas BureauFirst Posted 22:01:00 12/13/2008"