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ac'-'- 
y&j& ys 12 
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF TIHE 
) 
REPUBLIC OP THB PHTLIPPINES) 
FIRST REG,WLAR SES I O N  
) 
&$ p5 4 
S.pD '1.5 
w 
AN ACT 
TO DECRIMINALIZE LIBEL INVOLVING ALL FORMS OF MASS 
MEDIA AND POX OTHER PURPOSES 
Y 
Free p r e s s  i.s t h e  bedrock of our l i b e r t y  and freedom 
f o r  without it, no 
amount 
of 
complaint, 
criticism o r  
r e l e c t i o n  i.n p r i v a t e  a,gainst t h e  abuses of t h e  go.resnn.ent 
thxough t h e  men running it can succeed, nay be heard .$raI.I. 
Intleed, w i t h o u t  free p r e s s ,  tho e n t r e a t i e s  and wails o f  
t h e  c i t i z e n r y  zgainst abuses and tyranficaj. acts w i l l  only 
fall on sal.t.~cted e a r s ,  nwt enough t o  mu.st.er public at-.tent.ion 
and support.. 
So vi.ta1. is the r o l e  of :free press t h a t  rturiiig the 
f i r s t  few years of t h e  regime of t h e  l a t e  1'resi.dent Marcos, 
t h e  p r e s s  was dubbed as a powerful Fourt,h Es.tate, n e x t  t o  
t.he g r e a t  Three Branches of t h e  Govern,ment . 
Pet., i t s  awesome power exercised through the pen and 
mou,th 
eventually 
withered 
clown 
because, 
the 
ensuing 
r e s t r i c t i . o n  oil t h e i r  exorcise sild pessist.en% e f f o r t s  a t  
whittl.iiig down t h e i r  role, emasculated th.e so-called Fourth 
E s t a t e  ' s atrangt.h and rendered it voiceless 
harntless and 
dyiny . 


i 
- Page 2 - 
Let 
11s not wait 
f o r  t h i s  t.0 
re-occur. 
Give real 
viti;ili.t.; and power t o  press ireedom and eliminat,e a l l  s t y l e s  
of paljsadec; whether in ,form o f  p r i o r  r e s t r a i n t  o r  through 
t h e  appearance of post sanctions. 
Almost aSwa17s, when a public o f f i c i a l  gets pricked by 
t h e  
incessant 
and 
viri.)lent. 
a t t a c k s  
by 
media 
on 
his 
unscrupulous ways, he ends up r e s o r t i n g  t o  f i l i n g  a case o f  
I,ibe,l. t o  s t o p  or restrain media, or worse, get. even with it 
f o r  t h e  legitimate d i s s e n t  o r  exposes. 
espl?:c 
time, 
l e g i t  
Libel., 
.it seem, i,s the g r e a t e s t  
iear of 
media, 
a1.Iy so, it not only drains the otherwise precious 
energy 
and resourcos of 
media 
and hampers 
t h e i r  
mate search f o r  t r u t h ,  i t  a1.60 puts t h e  practitioners 
f e a r f u l  of prosecution, persecution, incarceration. or, i n  
t h e  e n d ,  jobl.esa. 
T h u s ,  t h e  bil.1. to decriminalize l i b e l  insofar as i t  
involves media p r a c t i t i o n e r s .  I t  is hoped t h a t  with t h e  b i l l  
yettincz this august- body's nod, media's Power aand strength 
wi.11 be 
reinforced 
and 
i t s  ro7.e 
and 
eontribut.i.on 
t o  
democracy, preserved. 


. 
....... 
Iatroduced by SENATOF( ALPREDO S .  LXFI 
AN ACT 
MTNALIZE: LIEEL INVOLVING ALE FORMS OF MASS 
MEDTA AND FOR OTJTEIFR PURPOSES. 
Be it 
enacted 
by 
the 
Senate 
and 
t h e  
House 
of 
Representative of the Philippi.nea in Congress assembled: 
SECIL'SON 1.. TI: is the ~ 0 1 i c g  
th.e seat,@, t o  eliminate 
a1.1 forms of restraint in the exercise 05 the right, to a 
f
r
~
 
press from prior restraint and post sancI:ion, t.0 
excltldo the 
IRXD 
media anc? those i.nvo1.ved i n  pxacticn 
thereof froin the scopa and coverage of t h e  law on I.ibel 
penalized under the Revised Penal. Code and insul.ate them 
from a1.i forms of cr+,minal prosecution. 
SEC;?'TON 2 .  Art. 3 5 3  of Act. 3815 a s  amended, o.tlierwj.se 
know-n as t h e  "Revi.sed Psr1a.L Code" is hereby amended t o  read 
as follows: 
A r t .  3 5 3 .  Definition of Libel.- A l i b e l  
i.s a pi,.iblic and malicious imputalion of. a 
crime, or of 
a vice or defect, r e a l  or 
imaginary, or any a c t ,  omission, condition, 
s t a t u s ,  or circumstance tending t o  cause the 
di.sbonor ,. 
d i s c r e d i t  
o r  
conterngi: 
of 
a 
natural or j u r i d i c a l  person, or t o  biaclren 
the roernory of 
one who is d,ead. .Provided, 
however, t h a t  when made by a mass medka 
p r a c t i t i o n e r  i n  the exercise of fr@e press, 
a g a i n s t  a public o f f i c x r  , no criminal, 1)ut 
only civil. lia.bi.1.ity, shal.1 be incurred. 
S:ECTION 3 .  DefSnition of Terms: A s  used i n  thi.5 A c t  .. 
( a  1 
mass 
media 
pra,ctitioner 
s h a l l  
include 
t l i  
armouricer, 
broadcaster, 
commentator 
of 
any 
radio 
or 
t e l e v i s i o n  programs; 
publisher, e d i t o r ,  writer 
reportor, 
columni.st , 
contributor i n  any nowspaper, 
bioadsheet 
OP 
t a b l o j  d ,  or magazines, of 
general of 
local. circul.ation, 
newsletter 
of 
school 
organs, 
lahor 
or 
ynvernn!en't 
organiza'c.i.ons I and any such s i ~ i i l a r  publ,ications; 


( b )  e x e r c i s e  of f r e e  p r e s s  s h a l l  r e f e r  t o  any ora.% or 
w r i t t e n  news 
r e p o r t  
item, 
opinion, h i s t o r i c a l  account, 
cornment.aicy, m a l y s i s ,  personal expression. on c e r t a i n  i.ssues 
i.nvolving t h e  p o l i t i c a l ,  s o c i a l ,  economkc and h i s t o r i c a l  
condition, s t a t e  or s t a t u s  of any public o f f i c e r ,  including 
h u t  riot 1.imi.ted t o  exposes concerning ariornalies, comrnisskdn 
o f  qraf t or tendencies towards thorn, unexplained weal.tkr, 
immoral. I 
illegal or vicious a c t i v i t i e s  o f  
s a i d  p u b l i c  
offj-cers. 
( c )  public 
o f f i c e r  
shal.l 
include 
those 
i n  
t h e  
executive 
~ 
l e g i s l a t i v e  
o r  
j u d i c i z l  
departments 
o f  
t h e  
government, whether appointed. or eleet.ed, ,whether i n  tho 
n a t i o n a l ,  regiona:l., autonamous, c i t y ,  municipal o r  barangay 
l.evels, 
their 
r e l a t i v e s  
within 
t h e  
fourth degree 
of 
consanguinity 
or 
a f f i n i t y ,  
whether 
l e g i t i m a t e  
or 
i. 1 I. eg i. t iniate . 
SECTION $. 
A l l .  criminal. cases o r  crirrinal. charges 
pending i n  c o u r t s  or 
the prosecutors' 
o f f i c e  s h a l l  he 
imrnediat.ol y dismissed and/or dropped, a s  t.he case may be, 
upon t h e  e f f e c t i v i t y  of t h i s  A c t .  
SECTION $. 'The provision of A r t .  360 o f  tho Revised 
penal 
 ode 
i n s o f a r  a s  i.ncansistent. wit11 the provisions 
hereof aro hereby repeaLod. 
SECTION g. This Act 
shall 
take 
e f f e c t  upon 
its 
approval. .