Amid new cases, bills on libel have been at committee level since 2025

MANILA — The arrest of 72-year-old journalist Philip Lustre, Jr. for a cyber libel case and Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte’s filing of libel and cyber libel complaints against journalists and media executives last week have revived discussions on the colonial-era law that advocates say threatens press freedom and freedom of speech.

Speaking for the House prosecution panel on Monday, Bicol Saro Party-List Rep. Terry Ridon called the cases an attack on press freedom and promised House support for journalists facing cases.

As in previous congresses, bills to decriminalize libel have been filed at both chambers of the 20th Congress to address the potential chilling effect it poses on the press.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co filed House Bill No. 441 in June 2025, saying libel has been “regularly [abused]… to curtail the democratic right of the press to delve into the truth behind matters of public interest, and consequently, the peoples’ right to know.” 

FPJ Panday Bayanihan party-list Rep. Brian Poe Llamanzares has also filed his proposed Freedom and Protection of Journalists bill to decriminalize libel, remove the presumption of malice, and create a multi-sectoral Press Freedom Oversight Committee.

Aggrieved parties can still seek redress if libel is decriminalized by seeking damages.

Llamanzares’ bill includes a provision on right of reply or retraction, which newsrooms can comply with to “mitigate or eliminate liability.”

Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and his brother ABAMIN Party-List Rep. Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. have proposed removing imprisonment as a penalty of libel.

They said those found guilty of libel should be fined of between P10,000 to P30,000 “for no crime should go unpunished.” 

Cebu City 1st District Rep. Rachel del Mar has meanwhile filed two bills related to libel: One limiting the prescription period for cyber libel to one year and another that specifies the venue for civil and criminal action against community and local press.

Under House Bill No. 263, cases against community and local press will be at the Regional Trial Court in the jurisdiction where they are based.

This, she says in her explanatory note, would help prevent situations where “the toll of inconvenience, financial or otherwise, is often more onerous and burdensome than the penalty or fine prescribed by the law.” 

The bills have been pending at the committee level since July 2025.

At the Senate, Senators Loren Legarda and Erwin Tulfo — both broadcasters before entering politics — have filed bills to decriminalize libel. 

“Libel should be treated as a civil matter and not a crime, ensuring justice without compromising free expression or disproportionately punishing speech,” Tulfo says in the explanatory note of Senate Bill No. 250.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also filed a bill that would remove imprisonment as a penalty for libel. 

His Senate Bill No. 476 also specifies that civil actions against community and local media should be filed at the Regional Trial Court of the jurisdiction of their primary place of business and operations.

These bills have also remained pending at the committee level since 2025.

The Commission on Human Rights supports moves to decriminalize libel, citing the Philippines’ obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It has also noted that groups, including the UN Human Rights Committee, have stressed that imprisonment “is never an appropriate penalty for defamation.”

In a statement in January in support of proposals in Congress, the CHR said: “Ultimately, this issue goes beyond law and policy. It affects the ability of every Filipino to speak, participate, and hold power to account.”