Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

77

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by : REP. RAUL V. DEL MAR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The attached bill seeks to provide a specific venue of action in libel cases against
a community journalist, community publication or community broadcast station.

There is no question — and nobody disputes this that the right to one’s reputation
and honor is as much a constitutional rights as the passion of life, liberty and property.
Indeed, “it is one of those rights necessary to human society that underlie the whole
scheme of civilization. Law and jurisprudence recognize and protect the value of such
reputation and subject one who attacks it, by slanderous words of libelous publication, to
the full criminal and civil sanctions.

However, there is likewise the reality — this is difficult to question if not
undeniable — that libel, whether filed as a criminal or civil action, is likewise used a
convenient legal tool to harass journalists, especially the community newspaper and
broadcast practitioners. This is so because, under the present rules, the complainant or
offended party, if he is a public officer, can file the complaint in Manila if his office is in
Manila or in the office outside Manila if his office is located there. If he is a private
person, the venue is his place of residence at the time of the commission of the offense.
Thus, a newspaper or broadcast station in Aparri or Jolo, Cebu or Davao can be made to
answer a complaint filed in Metro Manila where the complaint resides although the
subject, the issue or the incident published, - in law the cause of action — did not arise in
Metro Manila.

This situation is not changed by the fact that — under the same rule on venue — the
complainant or offended party has the option to file the action the Regional Trial Court of
the province or city where the libelous article is printed or first published because, in
reality and in practice, the offended party usually does not exercise that option since he
chooses the venue that is as far away from the principal office of business or work of the
defendant or accused as possible.

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The prevailing legal rules on venue thus place these community journalists and
local broadcasters in a situation where they have to answer complaints or charges filed,
rightly or wrongly, in remote or distant places, deliberately filed far away from their
place of business or work. In this context, the element of oppression is there. The toll of
inconvenience, financial or otherwise, is often more onerous and burdensome than the
Penalty or fine prescribed by the law. This may even lead to a miscarriage of justice in
cases where the accused or defendant fail to appear because of the distance and travel
constraints.

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The criminal or civil action may eventually be thrown out by the court but the
damage has been done; it already punished the community journalist and his publication
by the excessive cost of litigation and inconvenience outside the principal office of
publication or business of the said journalist or publication.

The community journalist and his organization, mostly financially handicapped
and already afflicted with all sorts of pressures and threats, need immediate relief from
the present rule on venue of libel cases, whether criminal or civil, which create an
opportunity for oppression. In substance, thereof, the proposed legislation seeks to
Provide the relief sought, to correct this unfairness by closing this loophole that is often
exploited or taken advantage of by offended parties.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is eamestly sought.

RAZ: MAR


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

77
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by : REP. RAUL V. DEL MAR

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE VENUE OF THE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL ACTION IN
LIBEL CASES AGAINST COMMUNITY JOURNALISTS, PUBLICATIONS OR
BROADCAST STATIONS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
congress assemble:

SECTION 1. Venue, The criminal or civil action incases of libel against a
community journalist, publication or broadcast station shall be filed in the Regional Trial
Court of the province or city where the principal office or place of business of the said
community journalist, publication or broadcast station is located: Provided, however,
that the civil action shall be filed in the same court where the criminal action is filed and
vice versa: and Provided, further, that the court where the criminal action or civil action
is first filed shall acquire jurisdiction to the exclusion of other courts,

The term “community joumalist, publication or broadcast station” shall be
understood to mean a journalist or news medium that operates within a limited area of
circulation or broadcast in a city, province or region, as defined under existing laws.

SEC. 2. Separability Clause. If any part or provision of this Act shall be held to
be unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby
shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SEC. 3. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.


SEC. 4. Effectivity Clause. This Act shalt take effect fifteen (15) days from its
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,