SC Take On Libel Unconstitutional?

How many members of the 4th Estate have spent sleepless nights in and out of jail thinking about their existing libel case, their libel conviction or their libel cases just sleeping in court?

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynaldo Puno issued a circular yesterday reminding judges of the higher court's preference for the imposition of fines in libel cases instead of imprisonment. However, chief legal counsel Sergio Apostol said it is unconstitutional as the circular would in effect amend the libel law. Under the separation of powers principle, it is Congress that has the authority to amend laws unless it refers to the Rules of Court which falls under the jurisdiction of the SC.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales however said it is not illegal because the SC did not impinge on Congress' rights to amend the Revised Penal Code as the circular did not change the provision of Article 355 (Crime of Libel) of the RPC.

But whether the circular is constitutional or not, who would declare it unconstitutional? Only the SC has the final say and from what I learned in Law School, it will never declare its own circular unconstitutional.

There are pending bills in Congress that seeks to decriminalize libel. In fact, this was one of the concerns of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte when he was still 1st District Congressman.

While the executive and the judicial branches of the government argue their points, the media is left with their palms empty and their long-time request of decriminalizing libel still gathering dust in Congress.

Digong vs Nogie

Two Davao political bigwigs clash anew

The conflict between Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte and Davao City 1st District Congressman Prospero “Nogie” Nograles is finally out in the open.

Duterte spent 55 minutes of his “Para sa Masa…” program at ABS CBN last Sunday cussing and berating Nograles for a lot of reasons primarily because of the manhunt against Diwalwal miner Tata Sala. Sala, who has a pending warrant of arrest, helped Duterte’s candidate during the recently-concluded barangay elections.

Despite the warrant, Sala acted like a free man, even campaigning for Talomo barangay captain candidate Alex Vidal (Duterte’s candidate who won) versus Nograles candidate Art Jimenez. Duterte said Nograles used his influence to resurrect Sala’s case and warrant to get back to the latter for campaigning against his candidate last election.

The conflict between the two started as far back as 1988 until they formed a political alliance during last year’s local elections (with the agreement that both will respect each other’s jurisdiction and support each other’s decisions- local politics for Duterte and national politics for Nograles). However, the animosity between the two was resurrected even before the end of the election due to politics again.

Duterte also castigated Nograles for sending local broadcaster Alex Adonis to jail for libel after the latter tackled Nograles alleged trysts with a married television host.

Duterte and Nograles were interviewed during today’s Umagang Kay Ganda TV program with Nograles live at the studio and Duterte on a phone patch. Duterte showed why he is touted as the original bad boy of Davao City when he cussed Nograles on national television saying “Put…Ina ka ngano ginapaburan man nimo ang mga Koreano laban sa mga Pilipino” as he accused Nograles of owning Apo View Hotel and getting a casino franchise for the hotel.