Hontiveros files bill decriminalizing libel

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday filed a bill seeking to decriminalize libel —  the same day a Quezon City court convicted journalist Frank Cimatu of cyber libel.

In filing Senate Bill 1593 or the Decriminalization of Libel Act, Hontiveros wants to repeal the Articles 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 360, 361, and 362 of Act No. 3815 or the Revised Penal Code and Republic Act No.  10175 otherwise known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

The senator said in her explanatory note that the rise and prevalence of social media as a primary medium of communication has led to the further weaponization of libel laws and that the avalanche of cyber libel cases has only resulted in the clogging of the country’s court dockets.

“Our libel laws have been weaponized to stifle very basic fundamental rights. These laws have been used to constantly attack many of our freedoms, particularly the freedom of the press. We need to decriminalize libel if we are to truly defend press freedom,” she said.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93 earlier found Cimatu guilty beyond reasonable doubt of cyber libel over a Facebook post involving former Agriculture secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol.

Cimatu is sentenced to a minimum imprisonment of six months and one day and a maximum imprisonment of five years, five months, and eleven days and was ordered to pay Piñol P300,000 as moral damages.

Apart from Cimatu, the legislator said libel was also being used against other journalists including Nobel laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos who were both convicted of cyber libel in 2020.

“These journalists have wasted years of their lives facing charges for basically doing their jobs. Gamit na gamit na ang cyber libel para patahimikin ang ating mga mamamahayag. Kung hindi natin maiwasto ito, patuloy na gagamitin ang libel para kitilin ang ating kalayaan,” said Hontiveros.

(These journalists have wasted years of their lives facing charges for basically doing their jobs. Cyber libel is being used to silence our journalists. If we cannot avoid it, the law will be used continuously to stifle our freedom.)

“Trabaho ng mga reporter ang magbahagi ng mga impormasyon para sa kaalaman ng publiko. We need the press to vet information and continue to be the safekeepers of facts. Sa pagbaha ng fake news sa social media, mas lalong kailangan nating maprotektahan ang propesyon nila. If we fail to do so, if we allow our laws to punish rather than protect the press, we chip away at our Constitutional rights. This will cost us our democracy,” she said.

(It is the journalists’ job to share information with the public. We need the press to vet information and continue to be the safe keepers of facts. Amid the spread of fake news in social media, we need to protect their jobs. If we fail to do so, if we allow our laws to punish rather than protect the press, we chip away at our Constitutional rights. This will cost us our democracy.)—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News