Court junks libel raps vs Annabelle Rama

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City prosecutor’s office has dismissed the libel case filed by movie actress Amalia Fuentes against talent manager Annabelle Rama and STAR columnist Bianca Gonzales.

In a four-page resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor John Patrick Corpuz said there was no probable cause to recommend the filing of libel charges against Rama and Gonzales.

“All considered, undersigned finds no sufficient reason to charge respondents either for the article published in the newspaper or for the tweets made by Annabelle,” said the resolution.

The case stemmed from the article “Love, Laughter & Intrigues with Eddie and Annabelle” that Gonzales wrote for The STAR on Feb. 12, 2012.

Fuentes alleged that the article  — which included Rama’s narration of a previous incident between them — was libelous because it meant to discredit her.

But the prosecutor said that “the article reveals that it was a fair and true report of Bianca’s interview of Annabelle.”

“It was merely a statement of past events, and nothing more. She (Gonzales) explained that the article was not directed against Amalia, nor it was meant to cause her dishonor, disrespect or contempt. It simply depicted the colorful life of Annabelle in the past, as per Annabelle’s recollection,” the resolution said.

“On the part of Annabelle, she was just recounting past events in her and husband Eddie’s life during the interview. If ever, she revealed events in their life that involved Amalia, that was but part of the narration,” it added.

Fuentes also charged Rama with libel for the latter’s Twitter posts against the movie actress.

But the prosecutor said that there is no such thing as Internet libel under the Revised Penal Code