Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a bill removing imprisonment as a penalty in libel cases and specifying the venue of the civil action in libel cases involving community journalists, publications, or broadcast stations.
“While it is right of individuals to be protected from irresponsible reporting or commentary imprisonment is not a just penalty for such. Civil damages may be enough penalty and deterrence,” Estrada said in filing Senate Bill No. 2521.
Estrada underscored the need to introduce a new provision in the Revised Penal Code to provide for the venue of civil action in libel cases.
Currently, in libel cases involving public officers, they can file complaints in Manila if their office is there, or in courts outside Manila if their office is elsewhere. Private individuals file in the trial court where they reside when the alleged libel occurred, the senator said.
“However, this system is often abused by subjects of news articles, causing unnecessary harassment and inconvenience to journalists and media organizations. They file suits in distant locations, leading to unjust imprisonment or bail, even if the cases are later dropped, resolved, or dismissed,” he pointed out.
Libel is a criminal offense under Article 353 of the RPC. It refers to the public and malicious imputation of a crime, vice, or defect, whether real or imaginary, that has the potential to harm someone’s reputation or tarnish the memory of a deceased individual.
Instead of jail time, which can vary from six months to six years for libel committed through writing or similar means, Estrada suggested imposing fines ranging from P10,000 to P30,000. He also proposed that the offense and penalty be applicable within six months from the initial publication, airing, or exhibition of the libelous material.
Instead of imprisonment, which currently ranges from one month to six months, Estrada suggested imposing a fine of P5,000 to P15,000 on any reporter, editor, or manager of a newspaper, daily, or magazine who publishes facts related to someone’s private life that are offensive to their honor, virtue, and reputation.
Estrada proposed that cases involving community journalists, publications, or broadcast stations should be filed in the regional trial court of the province or city where their principal office or place of business is located. The term “community journalist, publication, or broadcast station” refers to news media that operate within a limited area, circulation, or broadcast in a specific city, province, or region as defined by existing laws.
As early as 2004 or during his first time as a senator, Estrada has been advocating for the decriminalization of libel and re-filed the bill in the succeeding 14th 15th, and 16th Congresses.
“It is unfortunate that despite the clarion call of mass media organizations and human rights groups to amend prevailing laws on libel, they have remained untouched over the years. Efforts to revise existing laws to strengthen press freedom have languished in the Senate legislative mill for two decades since I first filed this bill,” he said.
