CA affirms junking of Senator Tolentino’s libel raps vs. Ted Failon

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the dismissal of the libel case filed by Senator Francis Tolentino against broadcaster Ted Failon and the staff members of his defunct news magazine program.

Penned by Associate Justice Pablito Perez, the resolution issued on March 5 by the court’s Special Former 12th Division said Tolentino’s appeal lacked merit.

“[T]he motion for reconsideration has not raised any matter or cogent argument that we have not already considered and resolved in our decision dated July 7, 2020,” the CA said.

The ruling stemmed from a 2016 episode of “Failon Ngayon” which allegedly raised possible fund misuse in  the acquisition of second-hand motorcycles by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which was once headed by Tolentino.

Tolentino filed a second complaint in 2017 over a rebroadcast of the first episode on December 31, 2016.

Prosecutors in Tagaytay City found that the first episode, but not the recap episode, was libelous and filed a case in court in 2017. Failon appealed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), which ruled there was no actual malice in the broadcast.

The trial court, however, denied prosecutors' motion to withdraw, saying that actual malice must be threshed out during trial.

This prompted Failon to go to the CA, which ordered the dismissal of the case.

In its resolution, the CA said that “critical comments on the performance of official duties is protected and privileged speech.”

“In libel cases involving public officials and public figures, the well-settled rule is that malice is not presumed, since to rule otherwise is anathema to the democratic ideals of a free press and free speech and the rights of citizens,” it said.

Failon’s co-petitioners in the case were Gerald Oro, Abigail Lucas-Rondilla and Irene Grace Manotok. — RSJ, GMA News