SC junks indirect contempt petition vs Sotto

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition for indirect contempt filed against Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III over his criticism of the Court’s ruling on the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the decision reaffirmed that freedom of speech and expression enjoys the highest constitutional protection, particularly when the speech involves political matters.

“The SC found that Senator Sotto’s statements did not amount to indirect contempt,” the SC said.

The senator previously claimed that the Constitution was “amended unconstitutionally” through the SC’s alleged overreach. He said it would take decades to correct the “misinterpretation.”

This came after the SC En Banc “denied with finality” in January, the motion for reconsideration filed by the House, which sought to reverse the decision that declared the previous articles of impeachment against Duterte as unconstitutional.

The petition against Sotto was filed by Atty. Ferdinand Topacio and several other lawyers.

The SC, however, pointed out that just like other branches of the government, the Judiciary remains subject to public scrutiny and criticism.

“Under the doctrine of fair comment, statements concerning public officials in the performance of their duties are protected. Such statements do not automatically become punishable simply because they are false, harsh, or offensive,” the SC said.

“As the Court explained, ‘the guarantee of free speech was enacted to protect not only polite speech, but even in its most unsophisticated form,’” it added.

The court also clarified that it found no intention in Sotto’s statement to incite distrust of the Judiciary among the public.

“There is no showing he intended to incite or rally the public to lose trust in the independence of the Judiciary. There is no sign of bad faith or malice,” the Decision stated.

In response to the Court’s dismissal, Sotto expressed gratitude for its decision and stated that he has always respected and held the institution in high regard.

“I thank the Supreme Court for dismissing the petition for indirect contempt filed against me. I disagreed with one of its decisions. That does not mean I have lost respect for the Court. I have always held it in high regard as an institution, and I return the respect it has shown me in its decision,” the senator said in a statement.

Sotto also emphasized and reaffirmed the Court in its judgment, deeming freedom of speech as one of the strongest safeguards of the people to question those in power.

“Freedom of speech and expression is one of our strongest safeguards against tyranny. When people are free to question those in power, in any branch of government, power is kept in check. This decision protects the right of every Filipino to speak freely on issues that affect the nation,” Sotto stated.

“Again, my gratitude to the Court, and I will speak freely, always with respect for our institutions. Praise God!” he added. —VAL, GMA News