By Atty. Pachico A. Seares Executive Director Cebu Citizens-Press Council
They failed on cyber libel.
They now use unjust vexation.
A light offense as some regard the charge, yet it more than annoys or vexes local news media.
The charge against Marchel Espina, a former SunStar Cebu editor-in-chief, leading to her arrest and release on bail, has not visibly shaken the Cebu news media community.
The principal reason: Unjust vexation is a light offense carrying the penalty of imprisonment of one to 30 days. Bail is unbelievably low, P6,000.
(It’s not reported if the unjust vexation charge against Espina, et. al. is tied to Republic Act 10175, when committed using information and communication technology, which carries imprisonment of one to four months and a fine of up to P40,000. If that is so, it’s no longer a light offense.)
Even if it’s viewed as a light offense, it is a “real criminal offense.”
Any complaint in court, however, small and baseless, can come down as harassment against the news media outlet and its practitioners.
Second resort. Unjust vexation is often resorted to when the act does not squarely fall under another defined crime that is bigger and with stiffer penalty and more costly bail.
Which is what must have happened in Espina’s case. She and her co-accused were reportedly first charged with cyber libel but were acquitted. Unable to pin the journalists under the specific and more serious complaint of cyber libel, the complainants settled for unjust vexation.
The complaint being utterly weak—the publication was not directed at the complainant and it was not malicious—generally, it is not a case for major worry and alarm.
Cebu news media workers do not eat libel complaint for breakfast but, like other media practitioners elsewhere, they’ve been distressed by lawsuits, perhaps more extensively and intensely than in many other communities of journalists.
Prosecutors as gatekeepers. What can be worrisome is that their prosecutors who have indicted Marchel Espina, et. al. apparently have been not vigilant at the gate.
How could meeting legal requirements in the Espina case be even close to the Department of Justice standard for prosecutors: prima facie evidence plus “reasonable certainty of conviction”?
Existential problem. Community news media have been afflicted with the existential problem of surviving the deadline for the hour, day or week when each media outlet has to come out with its regular news product.
Court litigation, even if the charge is only unjust vexation, more than annoys or vexes. It could be among a hundred cuts, ostensibly lawful, against free press and free speech.
