CA affirms filing of libel case vs. ABS-CBN and its executives and talents

The Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed the Petition for Certiorari filed by current and former executives and talents of ABS-CBN and affirmed the order of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file two counts of libel against the petitioners for the alleged malicious imputations hurled against GMA Network in relation to video footage of the arrival of Angelo dela Cruz in 2004.

GMA filed the libel case against ABS-CBN after the latter accused GMA of stealing and airing its live feed of the arrival of Iraqi captive Angelo dela Cruz at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in July 2004. GMA vehemently denied this, saying that the said feed came from Reuters Television Service (Reuters), with whom GMA had a video subscription contract.

The libel case was filed against ABS-CBN executives and talents Erwin Tulfo, Lilibeth Frondoso, Lynda Jumilla, Maria Progena Estonillo Reyes, Anna Eugenio, Fernando Garcia, Eugenio Lopez III, Luis Alejandro, Jose Ramon Olives, Jesus Maderazo, Luisita Cruz-Valdez, Jose Magsaysay Jr., and Alfonso Marquez.

The DOJ then ordered the Office of the Quezon City Prosecutor to file the libel case against ABS-CBN current and former executives and talents, which the petitioners subsequently appealed before the CA.

In its June 9, 2014 decision written by Associate Justice Eduardo B. Peralta, Jr., the CA said that the “ascription to GMA-7 as a ‘thief’ in national television, scurrilous and ignominious as it was, exposed it to public ridicule and contempt.”

The CA also said that “at the time petitioners used the terms ‘nagnanakaw,’ ‘pamimirata,’ and ‘pagnanakaw’ to refer to GMA-7 in its alleged use of the live video footage of ABS-CBN, there was no certainty yet that GMA had committed an infringement of ABS-CBN’s copyright.”

DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima earlier said that GMA was able to prove that the four elements of libel (defamatory imputation, malice, publication, and indefiability of the person defamed) existed in ABS-CBN’s news reports.

ABS-CBN had earlier filed a separate case for copyright infringement against GMA for the alleged unauthorized use of the Angelo dela Cruz live feed. The case was dismissed by the CA. In a decision dated November 9, 2010, the CA ruled that the airing of Dela Cruz’ arrival video footage by GMA was done in good faith and thus could not be regarded as an infringement of copyrights.

GMA Network press release