Acting on a letter from the National Press, Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno has issued Administrative Circular No. 08-2008 laying down a rule of preference for the imposition of fine only rather than imprisonment in libel cases under specific circumstances.

Chief Justice Puno said that the guideline does not remove imprisonment as an alternative penalty for the crime of libel.  He stressed that all courts and judges may still exercise their sound discretion and consider the unique circumstances of each individual case in determining the proper imposable penalty. 

The Administrative Circular cited four cases – Sazon v. CA, Mari v. CA, Brillante v. CA, and Buatis, Jr. v. People – wherein the Court opted to impose only a fine on the person convicted of the crime of libel. The four cases, the Chief Justice said, indicate an emergent rule of preference for the imposition of fine only rather than imprisonment in libel cases under similar circumstances.

Libel is defined under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) as “a public and malicious imputation of a crime or a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonour, discredit or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.”

Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code punishes the crime of libel – committed by means of writing, printing, lithography, engraving, radio, phonograph, painting, theatrical exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means – with prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods or a fine ranging from PhP200 to PhP6,000, or both, in addition to the civil action which may be brought by the offended party. (AC No. 08-2008, January 25, 2008)