Online editor not held liable for libel for reader's comment

In what may be the first such instance in the Philippines, a prosecutor has dismissed a complaint for libel against the editor of a website for comments posted by a reader.  The website happens to be this one, GMA News Online.   The Office of the City Prosecutor of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro dismissed the complaint for libel filed by Dr. Idol Bondoc of the Oriental Mindoro Provincial Hospital (OMPH) against GMA News Online Editor-in-Chief Howie Severino and GMA News Research Head Florian Balmes for "insufficiency of evidence." Balmes' inclusion in the complaint was baffling because she has nothing to do with the editorial management of GMA News Online.  While the prosecutor's decision will not have much bearing on future Internet libel cases since the complaint did not reach the court, it "should set the tone," says Harvard-educated lawyer and law professor Oscar Franklin Tan, who follows Internet libel issues closely.  With many judicial personnel still unfamiliar with the Internet, many journalists and civil libertarians are concerned that a cybercrime law of the future could be applied in a way that would restrict free speech on the Internet. Tan says the Calapan prosecutor's dismissal of the complaint against a website editor can serve as an example.  "Ahead of a court decision, it should highlight that Internet libel can be approached in a very straightforward, reasonable way," Tan told GMA News Online via SMS. "The prosecutor here declined to implicate people who are really bystanders and did not treat the case too broadly, despite the fears raised by concerned citizens.   Bondoc filed a complaint against Severino, Balmes, and Bondoc's colleague, Dr. Rosinico Fabon, last September 5, 2011 after Fabon posted allegedly defamatory remarks in the comments section of a GMA News Online article regarding the Ombudsman’s decision on a previous administrative case involving Bondoc.  It was claimed by Bondoc that GMA News Online served as a vehicle for Fabon to destroy his reputation as a medical professional, and that he was not given an equal opportunity to air his side of the story.   In the Resolution dated November 13, 2012, Deputy City Prosecutor Gabriel C. Alberto noted that the comments made by readers of GMA News Online were not edited or subjected to prior approval before posting. Considering that sufficient guidelines on the proper posting of comments were available on the website, it was determined that they should not be held liable for any reactions sent by its readers. Unlike traditional newspapers, which have a time lag and editorial screening before letters to the editor are published, online readers can post comments directly and immediately on most news websites.   Meanwhile, City Deputy Prosecutor Alberto found probable cause to charge Dr. Fabon with libel and recommended the filing of the corresponding information in court. — DVM, GMA News