Updated. GMA Ch. 7, libel on the internet. clothes by “Khrysta’s Kollezione”
the gist of the legal opinion was: there are hurdles and “stretches” in the filing of cases of libel in the internet: venue, interpretation, parties, etc. The answer to the question of whether or not one could maintain such a case COULD GO EITHER WAY. (Personally, i’d rather that the Court interpret it to include the internet, but that’s a personal preference). When the Revised Penal Code was enacted more than 70 years ago, it did not contemplate the internet and there is no Philippine jurisprudence yet on libel in the internet (when i said “hindi pa sakop ang internet”; the emphasis is on the “yet” or on the “pa” (yet) of “hindi pa” rather than on the hindi (“no” or “not”). as the law stands as interpreted by jurisprudence, since the internet is not yet included in the enumeration in the law and not yet included in the interpretation of the catch-all phrases in the law by jurisprudence. IT CAN GO EITHER WAY DEPENDING ON FUTURE PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS. And so, as it stands, you would have to show that a third party other than the author and the complainant had read the website or internet post to include it in the interpretation of the word “public” (“public and malicious imputation”), and to construe the phrase “or any similar means” (in the enumeration “…writing, printing, lithography, engraving, radio, phonograph, painting, theatrical exhibition, or any similar means”) to include the internet, if you want the prosecution of the case to prosper. That is, assuming too that you could hurdle venue, jurisdiction if there’s some extra-territoriality involved, or being able to serve summons and warrants if the party is extra-territorial, and establishing parties or being able to name the author if the author is pseudonymous. It was really very technical…. and had to be simplified with the phrase “hindi pa” or not yet.
xxx
A “sitner”. Clothes by “Khrysta’s Kollezione”
Maybe someday Khrysta can be a full-time businessperson and set up her own boutique; here’s the sample from the wardrobe; her mom, from her travels abroad, bought her clothes but somehow some of the pieces ended up with…. blog admin (grabbed them, cleaned out one closet of it), made of airy-light chiffon, as shown on a video clip of GMA Channel 7, blog admin recommends it (i don’t do justice to it though, you just put up with me in the meantime).
the video below is what is called a “sitner” (it shows the audience the location or place of the interview) it’s not yet the interview-proper; will upload it, or a snippet of an excerpt of the segment, after the late or last news broadcast is shown by the network. Took the liberty of slow-moing it.
This freeze-frame and the video clip are properties of GMA Channel 7 used here non-commercially and for academic purposes:
