Olongapo court clears 2 journos of cyberlibel

OLONGAPO CITY—After almost five years of trial, a regional trial court (RTC) here acquitted two journalists of two counts of cyberlibel charges filed by a former official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

In a 31-page decision on Wednesday, Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio of Olongapo RTC Branch 73 said the prosecution failed to establish malice, one of the elements of libel, against Ansbert Joaquin, a former Inquirer correspondent, and Roby Alampay, former editor in chief of online digital news site, Interaksyon.

The case stemmed from an open letter written by Joaquin and published by Interaksyon and the Inquirer in July 2016 about the SBMA’s failure to issue a business permit to Comteq, a private computer and business college inside Subic Bay Freeport.

In his open letter, Joaquin, who was also Comteq’s former school director and administrator, appealed for President Duterte’s help over the school’s stalled permit after the latter issued a mandate to streamline the processing of applications in government offices.

According to Joaquin, the SBMA had not issued the school’s business permit despite several follow-ups.

Joaquin said the school’s application for a business permit remained pending at the office of Stefani Saño, former senior deputy administrator for business and investment of the SBMA, even after the agency’s board of directors approved Comteq’s documents.

In filing the cyberlibel charges, Saño said that Joaquin’s open letter was meant to “discredit, dishonor, shame and ridicule him, and put him in contempt of others.”

Saño claimed the letter was “entirely false and untrue,” and was written to expose him to “humiliation and disgrace.”

‘Good motives’

The court, however, said Joaquin’s open letter was published “with good motives and for justifiable ends.”

“Good intentions and justifiable motives constitute a defense insofar as they negate malice,” Hilario-Logronio said in her decision.

She said Joaquin had repeatedly stated that his intention in posting the letter was to “redress his grievance” with Mr. Duterte.

She noted that Joaquin was only moved by “a sense of civic duty” to expose the “very taxing procedure” of getting a business permit.

Joaquin welcomed the court’s decision, saying it was “a victory for freedom of speech. “

Saño had yet to issue a statement about the court’s ruling on Thursday. —JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT

READ: When does cyberlibel prescribe?