Friday, June 13, 2008 Seares: Prison as penalty for libel By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
NINEZ Cacho Olivares, publisher and editor-in-chief of "Daily Tribune," was meted the penalty of six months to two years in jail and P5.33 million damages when the Makati Regional Trial Court convicted her of libel.
Whoa. Isn't there supposed to be a Supreme Court circular that discourages judges from jailing journalists?
Yes, there is. The same circular though doesn't bind a judge who wishes to impose the law's full penalty: jail term and damages.
For all the good intentions of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, his order can't overwhelm the law.
Judge Winlove Dumayas, who punished Olivares for publishing "libelous" articles about the controversial Piatco-Naia terminal contracts, chose to shut out the wish of a chief who can only quietly fret about it.
Noise
A lot of noise have since come from world media organizations that view locking up journalists for what they report as primitive and brutal.
Talk of decriminalizing libel flows again, pitting merit against demerit. Should journalists be spared of any criminal liability by making libel a non-crime?
Cebu editors and lawyers of Cebu Media Legal Aid (Cemla) not long ago looked at the issue, along with a clutch of House and Senate "reform" bills on libel.
Their stand: Removing the jail term is fine but making libel a non-crime is not. As it is, journalists can set up absence of malice, essential element of the crime and a strong suit in their defense.
Ninez is not languishing in jail and maybe won't ever go near one before she dies but penalty for the first of 47 libel complaints she's facing is totally chilling.
