Decriminalize libel, solons urge

Senators are planning to decriminalize libel, meaning the penalty of imprisonment would be abolished for such an offense.

The lawmakers announced such plans as the Senate committee on public information and mass media chaired by opposition Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta opened an inquiry into the arrest of Tribune publisher Ninez Cacho Olivares, who is facing several libel cases in Makati City.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said the crime of libel should be decriminalized or stricter restrictions should be imposed in the enforcement of the libel law.

"In many instances, libel cases are being used to harass media practitioners to prevent them from exposing the truth," he said.

He said if the offense is decriminalized, aggrieved parties can go after the offenders by filing civil suits.

There are two bills pending in the Senate that seek to scrap the penalty of imprisonment for libel. The measures were separately filed by Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Loren Legarda.

Former senator Rene Saguisag, a resource person in the Olivares hearing and a newspaper columnist, supported the decriminalization proposal, saying the prospect of arrest, more than anything, "is what really chills the press."

He also suggested that amendments to the libel law should include a requirement that several articles on one subject should be treated as one case and a "continuing crime like rebellion" should not be split into several cases.

Olivares is facing 19 libel cases in connection with an equal number of articles on allegations that lawyer F. Arthur Villaraza tried to extort $20 million from German investor Fraport in the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 project. — Jess Diaz