■ Megan Aglaua
The former editor-in-chief (EIC) of UP Baguio’s (UPB) official student publication has finally been acquitted of libel, four years after it was filed by a journalism professor in the campus.
The Regional Trial Court Branch 6 in Baguio City junked the libel case against then Outcrop EIC Jesusa Paquibot on September 22, after the prosecution failed to prove that there was actual malice in the supposedly libelous article.
UPB Journalism Professor Ma. Rina Locsin-Afable claimed that her reputation was under attack in the satirical article titled “Yupiang Yupi,” published in the Outcrop’s lampoon issue in July 2011. Afable demanded that Paquibot be jailed for the article, as well as a published apology from the staff.
Affidavits submitted by a faculty member and a student testified that Afable was the professor being referred to since she bore the same initials as the character “Raulo Locaret.” They further asserted that the first name of the character was an insensitive reference to Afable’s late father, former newspaper editor Raul Locsin.
The court disputed this claim, saying readers would have been unaware of Afable’s identity had she not revealed that she was the subject of the column. Taking offense over the article was also not enough reason for libel, according to the ruling.
The satirical article stems from the State of the Youth Address in July 19, 2011 at UPB, wherein a professor shamed a photojournalist in front of her class.
While the Outcrop sent Afable a letter of apology for “emotional damages the professor might have suffered,” the publication stands firm in asserting that the article had no malicious intent to purposely defame and impugn Afable’s character.
Moreover, the column under which the libeled article appeared had already been using satirical language since its first appearance in the paper. Similar to the Collegian’s “Eksenang Peyups,” the message of Yupiang Yupi is “centered on regarding freedom of expression and the rights of the students to exercise it,” Paquibot said in an earlier statement.
Paquibot has now graduated from UPB and is currently working for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The Collegian tried to contact both Paquibot and Afable but has yet to receive responses as of press time.
“I did not know why this was allowed to happen in UP… No one should be an instrument in repressing freedom of the press,” said Harry Roque, a professor from UP College of Law and lawyer to Paquibot.
Libel cases have historically been used to silence the press. For instance, Malaya publisher Amado Macasaet was sued for libel in 1999 after reporting on the alleged briberies within the Supreme Court. Libel is being used to silence members of the critical press,” said Vijae Alquisola, former national president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP).
The filing of the libel case against Paquibot was also not a pursuit of justice but rather a blatant effort to repress the campus’ freedom of expression, according to a statement by the Outcrop in 2012, released immediately after the case had been filed.
Despite being acquitted of the case, many students remain afraid to join and write for the student publication, according to incumbent Outcrop EIC John Aquino.
Members of the publication claimed that the libel case inflicted a “chilling effect” on the campus press at the time. “We could not properly defend the publication since there is already a stigma attached if one has a libel case,” Aquino said.
“Libel is just one of the many campus press freedom violations a student publication can experience. Currently, hundreds of publications all over the country are suffering from repression such as withholding of their fund. May this victory serve as an inspiration for the campus press to unite and fight for genuine press freedom,” CEGP National President Jose Mari Callueng said. ■
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