(CMFR/IFEX) – In a recent positive development, the House of Representatives approved, on third and final reading, House Bill 77, requiring libel suits against journalists, publications or broadcast stations to be filed at the regional trial court of the province or city where the journalist, publication or broadcast station holds its principal office. The approval […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – In a recent positive development, the House of Representatives approved, on third and final reading, House Bill 77, requiring libel suits against journalists, publications or broadcast stations to be filed at the regional trial court of the province or city where the journalist, publication or broadcast station holds its principal office.
The approval enables the bill’s transmission to the Senate. Once a bicameral version of the bill has been approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate, it goes to the Office of the President for approval. The legislative branch of the government is composed of a higher (Senate) and lower Congress (House of Representatives).
According to the bill, civil actions connected with such libel suits should also be filed in the same court where the criminal complaint is filed.
Cebu Rep. Raul del Mar, the bill’s sponsor, said the bill will prevent individuals from using libel as a convenient tool to harass journalists.
“Libel, whether filed as a criminal or civil action, is used as a convenient legal tool to harass journalists, especially the community newspaper and broadcast practitioners,” Del Mar said, stressing the need to address this particular concern of local journalists.
“The community journalist and his organization, mostly financially handicapped and already afflicted with all sorts of pressures and threats, need immediate relief from the present rule on the venue of libel cases, whether criminal or civil, which create an opportunity for oppression,” the lawmaker said.
Under prevailing court rules, Del Mar said the complainant or offended party, if he is a public officer, can file the complaint in Manila if his office is in Manila or in the office outside Manila if his office is located there.
If he is a private person, the venue is his place of residence at the time of the commission of the offense.
Because of this, a newspaper or broadcast station in Aparri or Jolo, Cebu or Davao can be made to answer a complaint filed in Metro Manila where the complainant resides although the cause of action did not arise in Metro Manila.
Del Mar noted that this situation is not changed by the fact that the complainant or offended party has the option to file the action at the regional trial court of the province or city where the libelous article is printed or first published. This is because the offended party usually does not exercise that option since he chooses the venue that is far away from the principal office of the defendant.
Just recently, two separately filed libel suits were set for pre-trial in the coming months in Makati and Quezon City – both located in Metro Manila – against the staff of “Bandillo ng Palawan”, a community newspaper based in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, around 600 kilometers south of Manila.
