Court of Appeals affirms libel conviction of Drilon critic

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the libel conviction of a former consultant to Senator Franklin Drilon for "defamatory" online posts accusing the lawmaker of corruption over the construction of infrastructure projects in Iloilo.

The appellate court's Second Division also modified Manuel "Boy" Mejorada's prison sentence to two years, four months and one day to four years and two months for each of the four cases, to be served simultaneously.

In a September decision, the CA division upheld a Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 118 ruling that convicted Mejorada, who was also the senator's former media relation's officer in Iloilo province, in 2017.

Through Associate Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla, the CA said Mejorada "miserably failed" to discharge his burden to "show good intention and justifiable motive to overcome the legal inference of malice" stemming from four "defamatory" articles he wrote in 2013 and 2014.

These articles purportedly linked Drilon to alleged corruption and anomalies surrounding the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center and other projects in Iloilo City, the CA said.

"By making it appear that Senator Drilon took advantage of his position in the government and suggesting that he meddled in the various projects in Iloilo City for financial gains, accused-appellant most certainly exposed the former to public contempt and ridicule," the appeals court ruled.

"No amount of sophistical explanation on the part of the alter can hide, much less erase, the negative impression already created in the minds of the readers of the libelous materials towards Senator Drilon," it added.

The CA upheld the trial court's finding that the subject articles are defamatory, that they explicitly identified Drilon, and said there is a presumption of malice in cases of defamatory imputation in the absence of a showing of "good intention or justifiable motive."

The articles are not "fair and true reports" as provided by law, the CA said.

"They provide no details of the acts supposedly committed by Senator Drilon but repeatedly accused him instead of manipulating the procurement process of the several projects," the 27-page ruling said.

"They are, truth be told, plain and simple baseless accusations," it added, noting that while Mejorada said his allegations were based on facts, "he never presented any proof of his claims."

The CA also dismissed Mejorada's argument that Drilon's personal testimony was "indispensable" for the prosecution as "misplaced."

Since Mejorada has already admitted writing the articles, the only question left was whether they induced their readers to believe that the senator was guilty of an offense enough to impeach his reputation, the CA ruled.

"To compel, therefore, Senator Drilon to appear before the court only to personally identify accused-appellant whose identity has already been stipulated would be futile," the appeals court said. — RSJ, GMA News