MANILA, Philippines -- Representatives of left-wing party-list groups withdrew authorship of a bill seeking to decriminalize libel, saying a new version of the measure was the ?direct antithesis? to the one they filed.

Representatives Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis (Toiling Masses), Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna (People First), Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela, informed House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor in a letter of their withdrawal from authorship of House Bill No. 5760, which consolidates various bills that seek to decriminalize libel or, at the very least, remove imprisonment as a penalty.

?HB 5760, which does not decriminalize libel but is intended to reform the law, is a direct antithesis to our original bill, HB 3535, which aims to delete libel from our criminal statutes,? the party-list lawmakers said.

Stressing that ?the crime of libel has been used as a tool for repression, particularly against the media,? the lawmakers noted that the offense, ?like nonpayment of debt, does not partake of a criminal act even if it does cause damage to another person. Thus, the personal injury caused by a defamatory publication constitutes a cause of action for civil damages but not for criminal prosecution.?

Retaining libel as a criminal offense, they said, ?violates the constitutional right to press freedom and presumption of innocence as it constitutes prior restraint and places the burden of proof on the accused.?

?Public funds and the criminal justice system should not be used to vindicate a private reputation. In the case of libel, the criminal justice system is employed against an individual for his act of damaging the reputation of another,? they pointed out.

The lawmakers also stressed that ?libelous statements against the government are already taken care of by the provisions in the Revised Penal Code defining the crimes of rebellion or sedition.?

Mariano also took exception to the statement of Speaker Prospero Nograles that HB 5760 would serve as a ?companion-measure and a counterbalance? to the controversial right of reply bill, which media organizations and outfits are vigorously opposing.

?HB 5760 will, in fact, harden the criminalization of libel,? Mariano said. ?It will never offset the right of reply bill?s curtailment of press freedom. These twin measures are direct assaults [on] the Philippine media.?

The party-list lawmakers also said that they were not invited to any technical working group meeting during the consolidation of the different libel decriminalization bills.

They also noted that the consolidated bill was ?strikingly similar? to HB 4914, the last of the bills to be filed, which promotes maintaining libel as a criminal act.

This, they said, ?is exactly opposite to the [intent of the] other bills. To say that HB 5760 is a middle ground is therefore unacceptable since it clearly is not,? they said.