Query raised on libel law

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has asked the Senate to clarify whether it was pushing for an absolute repeal of the libel law after it had sought her opinion on 12 bills that include decriminalizing, abolishing the imprisonment clause and prescribing different penalties for political and private libel.

De Lima sought the clarification in a letter dated May 12 to Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, chair of the justice and human rights committee.

“(T)here is still a need to settle the legislative intent whether to embark on absolute repeal of libel laws as presently embodied in the Revised Penal Code and recently in Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 relative to online libel,” De Lima said in her three-page letter.

She said seven of the bills seek the direct repeal of the libel law while six measure propose only to qualify the law or abolish the imposable penalty of imprisonment in libel cases, or prescribe different penalties for political and private libel.

Lacking

De Lima reiterated the particular areas the measures need to address should they be reconciled because “the present bills appear to be lacking in some provisions to address specific concerns.”

The concerns raised by De Lima were:

— The effects of decriminalization of libel on acts that were committed, or on cases under preliminary investigation or pending trial before the court or pending finality of conviction;

— The parameters or elements or preponderance of evidence to be considered to qualify civil action for damages if libel is decriminalized and converted to a matter of civil action for damages;

— How one can enforce and execute awards for damages if the person so adjudged to pay damages has no means to pay or is financially inadequate in cash or property; and

— The effect of decriminalization on pending civil actions predicated on the commission of libel under the RPC or even the cybercrime law pending repeal of online libel.

Valid

“We humbly submit that those are valid concerns that need to be addressed to avoid confusion or ambiguity in the application of the law,” the justice secretary said.

Last February, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the cybercrime law, which punishes crimes committed on the Internet, including online libel.

The justice department earlier said it did not include online libel in its recommendations on the cybercrime law.