DOJ corrects boo-boos in cyber-Perling’s case

APARRI, Cagayan, Philippines—Prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ)  here on Thursday moved for the correction of the charges filed against Esperlita Garcia, the antimining activist who was arrested on October 19 for posting an allegedly defamatory note on Facebook.

Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Edward Javier filed an amendment to the criminal information that indicted Garcia for grave oral defamation. The change was approved by Provincial Prosecutor Amador Arao.

Garcia was charged based on a complaint filed in May 2011 by Gonzaga Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr., who claimed that he was “maligned and discredited” in a note she posted on Facebook  about the  magnetite mining controversy in their town.

Amendments

Javier sought to make what he termed as “substantial amendments” or those that change the nature of the crime originally charged to the November 14, 2011, information that he filed in the regional trial court (RTC) here. That information served as basis for Judge Conrado Tabaco of RTC Branch 9 here to issue on October 9 an arrest warrant against Garcia.

In law, an information is filed by DOJ prosecutors who recommend the filing of criminal charges in court against a respondent who stands to face trial as he may be probably liable for the crime charged.

Garcia, 62, was arrested and detained overnight by the National Bureau of Investigation on October 19, in circumstances that drew public condemnation over how a statement made online was considered a criminal offense.

The information said Garcia was being charged with grave oral defamation, supposedly under Article 258 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Lawyer Mila Acacio, the handling prosecutor, declined to comment, for ethical reasons. She said the case was raffled off to her only after the criminal information was issued, and that her engagement would start only when she appears as prosecutor during an arraignment on October 31.

Libel, not defamation

In the amended information, Javier said Garcia was instead being charged with libel under Articles 353 and 355 of the RPC. Article 258 covers the crime of abortion.

“We admit that we commit mistakes at times, and this is why we are correcting them now, which is allowed under the law,” Javier said, adding that the inclusion of Article 258 was a mere “typographical error.”

Javier also said Garcia was charged under the RPC, and not Republic Act No. 10175 or the anticybercrime law.

“Posting statements on Facebook is also considered writing [as provided for in the RPC],” Javier said, declining to comment on a Supreme Court ruling which declared that statements made online did not constitute publication, one of the elements of libel.

He lamented that Garcia had been airing her complaints on his handling of the case in the media, instead of resorting to legal remedies.