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Friday, September 26, 2003
Bill on libel suit venue filed
By Karlon N. Rama
A SINGLE-PAGE house bill to resolve the question of where libel cases against journalists can be filed was passed for congressional discussion and approval yesterday.
The bill mandates that libel cases can only be filed in the city or province where the offending publication or media outlet operates.
However, while merely serving as an addendum to the Revised Penal Code’s provision on libel, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), may finally put an end to the legal oppression and harassment journalists have been facing for a long time now.
Under current rules, a person stung by a negative news report or commentary can file a libel case against a journalist in the Regional Trial Court of the place where he (offended party) resides or where he works, regardless of where the alleged libel was committed.
So if the subject of the article is an official based in Manila, he can file his case there. This burdens journalists who don’t live in Manila to go to the capital for the hearings.
While the complainant can opt to file the charge in the place where the alleged libel is committed, the offended party usually does not exercise that option.
“The prevailing legal rules on venue thus places community journalists and local broadcasters in a situation where they have to answer complaints or charges filed, rightly or wrongly, in remote or distant places, deliberately filed away from their place of business or work,” del Mar said in the explanatory note attached to the proposal.
“In this context, the element of oppression is there. The toll of inconvenience, financial or otherwise, is often more onerous and burdensome than the penalty or fine prescribed by the law.
This may even lead to a miscarriage of justice in cases where the accused or defendant fails to appear because of distance and travel constraints,” he said.
The passing of the proposal, designated as house bill 6440, was timely as it coincided with the Press Freedom Week celebrations here in Cebu.
(September 26, 2003 issue)
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