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MANILA, Philippines — The chief prosecutor of General Santos City has chosen not to act on the libel complaint filed by boxing icon and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao against a journalist, referring the case instead to the National Prosecution Service.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines chapter in General Santos said fiscal Edilberto Jamora explained that, while the Revised Penal Code does not include libel on the Internet, there is also the possibility Pacquiao may choose to file the case against Edwin Espejo in Quezon City, where the House of Representatives is located. He said determining the place of publication of an allegedly libelous article is necessary if a case is to prosper.
Espejo is chairman of the NUJP chapter.
Jamora was a guest at a forum on the decriminalization of libel, together with Philippine Press Institute trustee Jesus Dureza and lawyer Prima Quinsayas, who represents some of the families of victims of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre.
The fiscal, an uncle of Pacquiao?s wife Jinkee, said he has repeatedly advised the boxing champion not to file libel cases against journalists.
?Once you are a public official, you are fair game to critical coverage,? Jamora told reporters before the start of the forum.
He clarified that Pacquiao was seeking P15 million in damages, not the P75 million earlier reported.
Pacquiao filed the complaint against Espejo in March after the journalist reported on online news sites that an alleged dealer in stolen vehicles had supposedly sought refuge in the congressman?s mansion in General Santos.
The boxing champion has denied this.
Espejo, on the other hand, said he has yet to receive a copy of the information sheet on the libel complain.
Despite choosing not to act on Pacquiao?s complaint, Jamora acknowledged that the case against Espejo could help improve the country?s jurisprudence on libel.
The fiscal, however, said he preferred to see the libel law ?enhanced? instead of stricken from the Revised Penal Code.
The NUJP is one of the media organizations campaigning for the decriminalization of libel.
Many journalists say the country?s libel law, which dates back to the American colonial period and was designed mainly to stifle dissent, is often used by influential people to silence or harass the press.
Recently, the United Nations Committee on Human Rights urged the Philippine government to decriminalize libel, calling it ?incompatible with Article 19, paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,? of which the country is a signatory.
