Media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation and its current and former official talents can now be sued for libel charges by The Department of Justice (DOJ). The network is remembered to have allegedly accused GMA Network in 2004 for airing the video footage of former Iraqi captive Angelo de la Cruz’s arrival.
ABS-CBN’s motion which sought to reverse a Court of Appeals ruling in June 2014 which favors DOJ’s recommendation for the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office to sue the respondents of the network was denied.
Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr. authored the two -page resolution of the court which makes their decision final as second motions for reconsideration is not forbidden as stated in Section 5, Rule 37 of the Rules of Court.
CA Associate Justices Magdangal de Leon and Stephen Cruz concurred with Peralta’s ruling which reiterated that the decision was based on the lack of persuasive force from the movants. It was GMA who first filed a libel case against ABS-CBN when the former was accused of stealing and airing a live feed of the July 2004 arrival of Dela Cruz at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The libel case was filed against ABS-CBN executives and talents Erwin Tulfo, Lilibeth Frondoso, Lynda Jumilla, Maria Progena Estonillo Reyes, Anna Eugenio, Fernando Garcia, Eugenio Lopez III, Luis Alejandro, Jose Ramon Olives, Jesus Maderazo, Luisita Cruz-Valdez, Jose Magsaysay Jr., and Alfonso Marquez after they denied the accusation as they claimed that the feed came from Reuters Television Service (Reuters), from which they have a video subscription contract.
Afterwards, the DOJ ordered the filing of libel case against ABS-CBN to the QC Prosecutor’s Office which has been appealed before the CA. According to DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima, GMA was able to prove that the four elements of libel (defamatory imputation, malice, publication, and indefiability of the person defamed) existed in ABS-CBN’s news reports which strengthens their case.
ABS-CBN defunct shows “Insider” and “Magandang Umaga Bayan” were the ones which used the phrases “pagnanakaw ng aming eksklusibong kuha” and “pamimirata ng footage” in their reports on the incident after the video airing incident. One report further said “ang pagnanakaw ay isang malaking krimen.” Earlier, ABS-CBN already filed a separate case for copyright infringement against GMA for the alleged unauthorized use of the Angelo dela Cruz live feed.
However, the case was dismissed by the CA in November 9, 2010, as it was proven that the airing of Dela Cruz’ arrival video footage by GMA was legal and cannot be viewed as an infringement of copyrights.
