SC upholds guilty verdict for Ang Dating Daan chief’s libel case

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has affirmed the an Iriga court’s guilty verdict for Ang Dating Daan President Eliseo Soriano in a libel case filed 20 years ago.

In an 11-page decision by Associate Justice Noel Tijam, the Supreme Court’s First Division upheld the verdict of Iriga City Regional Trial Court Branch 60 last June 8, 2012 and later on approved by the Court of Appeals in 2016.

Specifically, the Supreme Court said Soriano was guilty after Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry (JMCIM) President Wilde Alameda filed a complaint against Soriano for cursing and calling him “bulaang propeta” during a radio program in Iriga last July 31, 1998.

The high court said Soriano’s remark against Alameda was malicious and it could not be tagged as “privileged communication.”

However, the SC absolved Soriano of another libel case which stemmed from cursing and criticizing members of the JMCIM in an episode of his radio program in Iriga last July 31, 1998.

This was because Soriano did not name a specific member or head of Jesus Miracle Crusade on the said episode.

With this, SC said Soriano must post P6,000 worth of bail on the libel case to which he was declared guilty. –With reports from Ricky Brozas / Radyo Inquirer