Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a measure seeking to remove imprisonment as a penalty in libel cases and specifying the venue of the civil action in libel cases involving community journalists, publications, or broadcast stations.

Instead of jail time, Estrada proposed the imposition of fines ranging from P10,000 to P30,000, applicable within six months from the initial publication, airing or exhibition of the libelous material.

In filing the bill, the senator also sought the imposition of a fine of P5,000 to P15,000 to any reporter, editor or manager of a newspaper, daily or magazine who publishes facts related to a person’s private life that is considered offensive to their honor, virtue and reputation, instead of imprisonment.

“While it is the right of individuals to be protected from irresponsible reporting or commentary imprisonment is not a just penalty for such. Civil damages may be enough penalty and deterrence,” Estrada said in filing Senate Bill No. 2521.

The senator also underscored the need to introduce a new provision in the Revised Penal Code specifying the venue of civil action in libel cases.

Estrada said indicating the place of civil action would help journalists and media organizations avoid unnecessary harassment.

Currently, in libel cases involving public officers, the complainant can file cases in Manila if their office is there, or in courts outside Manila if their office is elsewhere, while private individuals file cases in the trial court where they reside when the alleged libel occurred.

“However, this system is often abused by subjects of news articles, causing unnecessary harassment and inconvenience to journalists and media organizations. They file suits in distant locations, leading to unjust imprisonment or bail, even if the cases are later dropped, resolved, or dismissed,” he pointed out.

Under the bill, Estrada proposed that cases involving community journalists, publications, or broadcast stations be filed in the regional trial court of the province or city where their principal office or place of business is located.

Since 2004, Estrada has been pushing for the decriminalization of libel and re-filed the bill during the 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th Congresses.

“It is unfortunate that despite the clarion call of mass media organizations and human rights groups to amend prevailing laws on libel, they have remained untouched over the years,” he lamented.

“Efforts to revise existing laws to strengthen press freedom have languished in the Senate legislative mill for two decades since I first filed this bill,” he further said.