SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. NO. 161032, September 16, 2008]
ERWIN TULFO, Petitioner, v. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES AND ATTY. CARLOS T. SO, Respondents.
[G.R. NO. 161176]
SUSAN CAMBRI, REY SALAO, JOCELYN BARLIZO, AND PHILIP PICHAY, Petitioners, v. COURT OF APPEALS, PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, AND CARLOS SO, Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
VELASCO JR., J.:
On November 3, 1999, Tulfo, Salao, and Cambri were arraigned, while Barlizo and Pichay were arraigned on December 15, 1999. They all pleaded not guilty to the offenses charged.Criminal Case No. 99-1598
That on or about the 11th day of May, 1999 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, being then the columnist, publisher and managing editor, respectively of "REMATE", a tabloid published daily and of general circulation in the Philippines, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and with malicious intent to discredit or dishonor complainant, ATTY. CARLOS "DING" SO, and with the malicious intent of injuring and exposing said complainant to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, write and publish in the regular issue of said publication on May 11, 1999, its daily column "DIRECT HIT", quoted hereunder, to wit:WHEREIN said complainant was indicated as an extortionist, a corrupt public official, smuggler and having illegally acquired wealth, all as already stated, with the object of destroying his reputation, discrediting and ridiculing him before the bar of public opinion.2PINAKAMAYAMAN SA CUSTOMS
Ito palang si Atty. Ding So ng Intelligence Division ng Bureau of Customs and [sic] pinakamayaman na yata na government official sa buong bansa sa pangungurakot lamang diyan sa South Harbor.
Hindi matibag ang gagong attorney dahil malakas daw ito sa Iglesia ni Kristo.
Hoy, So! . . nakakahiya ka sa mga INC, ikaw na yata ang pinakagago at magnanakaw na miyembro nito.
Balita ko, malapit ka nang itiwalag ng nasabing simbahan dahil sa mga kalokohan mo.
Abangan bukas ang mga raket ni So sa BOC.Criminal Case No. 99-1599
That on or about the 12th day of May, 1999 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, being then the columnist, publisher and managing editor, respectively of "REMATE", a tabloid published daily and of general circulation in the Philippines, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and with malicious intent to discredit or dishonor complainant, ATTY. CARLOS "DING" SO, and with the malicious intent of injuring and exposing said complainant to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, write and publish in the regular issue of said publication on May 12, 1999, in daily column "DIRECT HIT", quoted hereunder, to wit:WHEREIN said complainant was indicated as an extortionist, a corrupt public official, smuggler and having illegally acquired wealth, all as already stated, with the object of destroying his reputation, discrediting and ridiculing him before the bar of public opinion.3SI ATTY. SO NG BOC
"LINTEK" din sa pangungurakot itong Ding So ng Bureau of Customs Intelligence Unit sa South Harbor.
Daan-daang libong piso ang kinikita ng masiba at matakaw na si So sa mga importer na ayaw ideklara ang totoong laman ng mga container para makaiwas sa pagbayad ng malaking customs duties at taxes.
Si So ang nagpapadrino sa mga pag-inspection ng mga container na ito. Siyempre-binibigyan din niya ng salapi yung ibang mga ahensiya para pumikit na lang at itikom ang kanilang nga [sic] bibig diyan sa mga buwayang taga BOC.
Awang-awa ako sa ating gobyerno. Bankrupt na nga, ninanakawan pa ng mga kawatan tulad ni So.
Ewan ko ba rito kay Atty. So, bakit hindi na lang tumayo ng sarili niyang robbery-hold-up gang para kumita ng mas mabilis.
Hoy So.. hindi bagay sa iyo ang pagiging attorney . . . Mas bagay sa iyo ang pagiging buwayang naka korbata at holdaper. Magnanakaw ka So!!"Criminal Case No. 99-1600
That on or about 19th day of May, 1999 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, being then the columnist, publisher and managing editor, respectively of "REMATE", a tabloid published daily and of general circulation in the Philippines, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and with malicious intent to discredit or dishonor complainant, ATTY. CARLOS "DING" SO, and with the malicious intent of injuring and exposing said complainant to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, write and publish in the regular issue of said publication on May 19, 1999, in daily column "DIRECT HIT", quoted hereunder, to wit:x x x x"Tulad ni Atty. Ding So ng Bureau of Customs Intelligence Division, saksakan din ng lakas itong si Daniel Aquino ng Presidential Anti-Smuggling Unit na nakatalaga sa South Harbor.WHEREIN said complainant was indicated as an extortionist, a corrupt public official, smuggler and having illegally acquired wealth, all as already stated, with the object of destroying his reputation, discrediting and ridiculing him before the bar of public opinion.4
Tulad ni So, magnanakaw na tunay itong si Aquino.
Panghihingi ng pera sa mga brokers, ang lakad nito.
Pag hindi nagbigay ng pera ang mga brokers, maiipit ang pagre-release ng kanilang kargamento."Criminal Case No. 99-1597
That on or about 25th day of June, 1999 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, being then the columnist, publisher and managing editor, respectively of "REMATE", a tabloid published daily and of general circulation in the Philippines, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and with malicious intent to discredit or dishonor complainant, ATTY. CARLOS "DING" T. SO, and with the malicious intent of injuring and exposing said complainant to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, write and publish in the regular issue of said publication on June 25, 1999, its daily column "DIRECT HIT", quoted hereunder, to wit:
x x x xNagfile ng P10 M na libel suit itong si Atty. Carlos So ng Bureau of Customs laban sa inyong lingkod at ilang opisyales ng Remate sa Pasay City Court. Nagalit itong tarantadong si Atty. So dahil binanatan ko siya at inexpose ang kagaguhan niya sa BOC.WHEREIN said complainant was indicated as an extortionist, a corrupt public official, smuggler and having illegally acquired wealth, all as already stated, with the object of destroying his reputation, discrediting and ridiculing him before the bar of public opinion.5
Hoy, So . . . dagdagan mo pa ang pagnanakaw mo dahil hindi kita tatantanan. Buhay ka pa sinusunog na ang iyong kaluluwa sa impyerno.
WHEREFORE, the Court finds the accused ERWIN TULFO, SUSAN CAMBRI, REY SALAO, JOCELYN BARLIZO and PHILIP PICHAY guilty beyond reasonable doubt of four (4) counts of the crime of LIBEL, as defined in Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code, and penalized by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, or a fine ranging from P200.00 Pesos to P6,000.00 Pesos or both, under Article 355 of the same Code.
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the Court hereby sentences EACH of the accused to suffer imprisonment of SIX (6) MONTHS of arresto mayor, as minimum, to FOUR (4) YEARS and TWO (2) MONTHS of prision correccional, as maximum, for EACH count with accessory penalties provided by law.
Considering that the accused Erwin Tulfo, Susan Cambri, Rey Salao, Jocelyn Barlizo and Philip Pichay wrote and published the four (4) defamatory articles with reckless disregard, being, in the mind of the Court, of whether it was false or not, the said articles libelous per se, they are hereby ordered to pay, jointly and severally, the sum of EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND (P800,000.00) PESOS, as actual damages, the sum of ONE MILLION PESOS (P1,000,000.00), as moral damages, and an additional amount of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P500,000.00), by way of exemplary damages, all with subsidiary imprisonment, in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs.
SO ORDERED.16
His co-accused assigned the following errors:
- THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN IGNORING THE UNREBUTTED TESTIMONY OF THE APPELLANT THAT HE DID NOT CRITICIZE THE PRIVATE COMPLAINANT WORKING AT THE NAIA. HE CRITICIZED ANOTHER PERSON WORKING AT THE SOUTH HARBOR. HENCE, THE ELEMENT OF IDENTITY IS LACKING.
- THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN IGNORING THE LACK OF THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF DISCREDIT OR DISHONOR, AS DEFINED BY JURISPRUDENCE.
- THERE WAS NO MALICE AGAINST THE PRIVATE COMPLAINANT ATTY. CARLOS "DING" SO.17
In a Decision19 dated June 17, 2003, the Eighth Division of the CA dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial court. A motion for reconsideration dated June 30, 2003 was filed by Tulfo, while the rest of his co-accused filed a motion for reconsideration dated July 2, 2003. In a Resolution dated December 11, 2003, both motions were denied for lack of merit.20A
The trial court seriously erred in holding accused Susan Cambri, Rey Salao, Jocelyn Barlizo and Philip Pichay liable for the defamations contained in the questioned articles despite the fact that the trial court did not have any finding as to their participation in the writing, editing and/or publication of the questioned articles.B
The trial court seriously erred in concluding that libel was committed by all of the accused on the basis of its finding that the elements of libel have been satisfactorily established by evidence on record.C
The trial court seriously erred in considering complainant to be the one referred to by Erwin Tulfo in his articles in question.18
Petitioners Cambri, Salao, Barlizo, and Pichay submitted their own assignment of errors, as follows:I
Assuming that the Prosecution presented credible and relevant evidence, the Honorable CA erred in not declaring the assailed articles as privileged; the CA erred in concluding that malice in law exists by the court's having incorrectly reasoned out that malice was presumed in the instant case.II
Even assuming arguendo that the articles complained of are not privileged, the lower court, nonetheless, committed gross error as defined by the provisions of Section 6 of Rule 45 by its misappreciation of the evidence presented on matters substantial and material to the guilt or innocence of the petitioner.22
A - The Court of Appeals Seriously Erred In Its Application of Article 360 Of The Revised Penal Code By Holding Cambri, Salao And Barlizo Liable For The Defamatory Articles In The May 11, 12, 19 And June 25, 1999 Issues Of Remate Simply Because They Were Managing Editor, National Editor And City Editor Respectively Of Remate And By Holding Pichay Also Liable For Libel Merely Because He Was The President Of Carlo Publishing House, Inc. Without Taking Into Account The Unrebutted Evidence That Petitioners Had No Participation In The Editing Or Publication Of The Defamatory Articles In Question.
B - The Court Of Appeals Committed Grave Abuse Of Discretion In Manifestly Disregarding The Unrebutted Evidence That Petitioners Had No Participation In The Editing Or Publication Of The Defamatory Articles In Question.
C - The Court Of Appeals Seriously Misappreciated The Evidence In Holding That The Person Referred To In The Published Articles Was Private Complainant Atty. Carlos So.23
Even assuming that the contents of the articles are false, mere error, inaccuracy or even falsity alone does not prove actual malice. Errors or misstatements are inevitable in any scheme of truly free expression and debate. Consistent with good faith and reasonable care, the press should not be held to account, to a point of suppression, for honest mistakes or imperfections in the choice of language. There must be some room for misstatement of fact as well as for misjudgment. Only by giving them much leeway and tolerance can they courageously and effectively function as critical agencies in our democracy. In Bulletin Publishing Corp. v. Noel we held -Reading more deeply into the case, the exercise of press freedom must be done "consistent with good faith and reasonable care." This was clearly abandoned by Tulfo when he wrote the subject articles. This is no case of mere error or honest mistake, but a case of a journalist abdicating his responsibility to verify his story and instead misinforming the public. Journalists may be allowed an adequate margin of error in the exercise of their profession, but this margin does not expand to cover every defamatory or injurious statement they may make in the furtherance of their profession, nor does this margin cover total abandonment of responsibility.A newspaper especially one national in reach and coverage, should be free to report on events and developments in which the public has a legitimate interest with minimum fear of being hauled to court by one group or another on criminal or civil charges for libel, so long as the newspaper respects and keeps within the standards of morality and civility prevailing within the general community.To avoid the self-censorship that would necessarily accompany strict liability for erroneous statements, rules governing liability for injury to reputation are required to allow an adequate margin of error by protecting some inaccuracies. It is for the same reason that the New York Times doctrinerequires that liability for defamation of a public official or public figure may not be imposed in the absence of proof of "actual malice" on the part of the person making the libelous statement.29 (Emphasis supplied.)
To reiterate, fair commentaries on matters of public interest are privileged and constitute a valid defense in an action for libel or slander. The doctrine of fair comment means that while in general every discreditable imputation publicly made is deemed false, because every man is presumed innocent until his guilt is judicially proved, and every false imputation is deemed malicious, nevertheless, when the discreditable imputation is directed against a public person in his public capacity, it is not necessarily actionable. In order that such discreditable imputation to a public official may be actionable, it must either be a false allegation of fact or a comment based on a false supposition. If the comment is an expression of opinion, based on established facts, then it is immaterial that the opinion happens to be mistaken, as long as it might reasonably be inferred from the facts.30 (Emphasis supplied.)The expansion speaks of "fair commentaries on matters of public interest." While Borjal places fair commentaries within the scope of qualified privileged communication, the mere fact that the subject of the article is a public figure or a matter of public interest does not automatically exclude the author from liability. Borjal allows that for a discreditable imputation to a public official to be actionable, it must be a false allegation of fact or a comment based on a false supposition. As previously mentioned, the trial court found that the allegations against Atty. So were false and that Tulfo did not exert effort to verify the information before publishing his articles.
Surely it cannot be postulated that the law protects a journalist who deliberately prints lies or distorts the truth; or that a newsman may ecape liability who publishes derogatory or defamatory allegations against a person or entity, but recognizes no obligation bona fide to establish beforehand the factual basis of such imputations and refuses to submit proof thereof when challenged to do so. It outrages all notions of fair play and due process, and reduces to uselessness all the injunctions of the Journalists' Code of Ethics to allow a newsman, with all the potential of his profession to influence popular belief and shape public opinion, to make shameful and offensive charges destructive of personal or institutional honor and repute, and when called upon to justify the same, cavalierly beg off by claiming that to do so would compromise his sources and demanding acceptance of his word for the reliability of those sources.32The prosecution showed that Tulfo could present no proof of his allegations against Atty. So, only citing his one unnamed source. It is not demanded of him that he name his source. The confidentiality of sources and their importance to journalists are accepted and respected. What cannot be accepted are journalists making no efforts to verify the information given by a source, and using that unverified information to throw wild accusations and besmirch the name of possibly an innocent person. Journalists have a responsibility to report the truth, and in doing so must at least investigate their stories before publication, and be able to back up their stories with proof. The rumors and gossips spread by unnamed sources are not truth. Journalists are not storytellers or novelists who may just spin tales out of fevered imaginings, and pass them off as reality. There must be some foundation to their reports; these reports must be warranted by facts.
Clearly, the public interest involved in freedom of speech and the individual interest of judges (and for that matter, all other public officials) in the maintenance of private honor and reputation need to be accommodated one to the other. And the point of adjustment or accommodation between these two legitimate interests is precisely found in the norm which requires those who, invoking freedom of speech, publish statements which are clearly defamatory to identifiable judges or other public officials to exercise bona fide care in ascertaining the truth of the statements they publish. The norm does not require that a journalist guarantee the truth of what he says or publishes. But the norm does prohibit the reckless disregard of private reputation by publishing or circulating defamatory statements without any bona fide effort to ascertain the truth thereof. That this norm represents the generally accepted point of balance or adjustment between the two interests involved is clear from a consideration of both the pertinent civil law norms and the Code of Ethics adopted by the journalism profession in the Philippines.33Tulfo has clearly failed in this regard. His articles cannot even be considered as qualified privileged communication under the second paragraph of Art. 354 of the RPC which exempts from the presumption of malice "a fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments or remarks, of any judicial, legislative, or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or any statement, report, or speech delivered in said proceedings, or of any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their functions." This particular provision has several elements which must be present in order for the report to be exempt from the presumption of malice. The provision can be dissected as follows:
In order that the publication of a report of an official proceeding may be considered privileged, the following conditions must exist:The articles clearly are not the fair and true reports contemplated by the provision. They provide no details of the acts committed by the subject, Atty. So. They are plain and simple baseless accusations, backed up by the word of one unnamed source. Good faith is lacking, as Tulfo failed to substantiate or even attempt to verify his story before publication. Tulfo goes even further to attack the character of the subject, Atty. So, even calling him a disgrace to his religion and the legal profession. As none of the elements of the second paragraph of Art. 354 of the RPC is present in Tulfo's articles, it cannot thus be argued that they are qualified privileged communications under the RPC.(a)That it is a fair and true report of a judicial, legislative, or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or of a statement, report or speech delivered in said proceedings, or of any other act performed by a public officer in the exercise of his functions;(b)That it is made in good faith; and(c)That it is without any comments or remarks.34
Art. 360. Persons responsible.--Any person who shall publish, exhibit, or cause the publication or exhibition of any defamation in writing or by similar means, shall be responsible for the same.The claim that they had no participation does not shield them from liability. The provision in the RPC does not provide absence of participation as a defense, but rather plainly and specifically states the responsibility of those involved in publishing newspapers and other periodicals. It is not a matter of whether or not they conspired in preparing and publishing the subject articles, because the law simply so states that they are liable as they were the author.
The author or editor of a book or pamphlet, or the editor or business manager of a daily newspaper, magazine or serial publication, shall be responsible for the defamations contained therein to the same extent as if he were the author thereof.
According to the legal doctrines and jurisprudence of the United States, the printer of a publication containing libelous matter is liable for the same by reason of his direct connection therewith and his cognizance of the contents thereof. With regard to a publication in which a libel is printed, not only is the publisher but also all other persons who in any way participate in or have any connection with its publication are liable as publishers.Under Art. 360 of the RPC, as Tulfo, the author of the subject articles, has been found guilty of libel, so too must Cambri, Salao, Barlizo, and Pichay.
x x x x
In the case of State vs. Mason (26 L.R.A., 779; 26 Oreg., 273, 46 Am. St. Rep., 629), the question of the responsibility of the manager or proprietor of a newspaper was discussed. The court said, among other things (pp. 782, 783):
"The question then recurs as to whether the manager or proprietor of a newspaper can escape criminal responsibility solely on the ground that the libelous article was published without his knowledge or consent. When a libel is published in a newspaper, such fact alone is sufficient evidence prima facie to charge the manager or proprietor with the guilt of its publication.
"The manager and proprietor of a newspaper, we think ought to be held prima facie criminally for whatever appears in his paper; and it should be no defense that the publication was made without his knowledge or consent, x x x.
"One who furnishes the means for carrying on the publication of a newspaper and entrusts its management to servants or employees whom he selects and controls may be said to cause to be published what actually appears, and should be held responsible therefore, whether he was individually concerned in the publication or not, x x x. Criminal responsibility for the acts of an agent or servant in the course of his employment necessarily implies some degree of guilt or delinquency on the part of the publisher; x x x.
"We think, therefore, the mere fact that the libelous article was published in the newspaper without the knowledge or consent of its proprietor or manager is no defense to a criminal prosecution against such proprietor or manager."
In the case of Commonwealth vs. Morgan (107 Mass., 197), this same question was considered and the court held that in the criminal prosecution of a publisher of a newspaper in which a libel appears, he is prima facie presumed to have published the libel, and that the exclusion of an offer by the defendant to prove that he never saw the libel and was not aware of its publication until it was pointed out to him and that an apology and retraction were afterwards published in the same paper, gave him no ground for exception. In this same case, Mr. Justice Colt, speaking for the court, said:
"It is the duty of the proprietor of a public paper, which may be used for the publication of improper communications, to use reasonable caution in the conduct of his business that no libels be published." (Wharton's Criminal Law, secs. 1627, 1649; 1 Bishop's Criminal Law, secs. 219, 221; People vs. Wilson, 64 Ill., 195; Commonwealth vs. Damon, 136 Mass., 441.)
The above doctrine is also the doctrine established by the English courts. In the case of Rex vs. Walter (3 Esp., 21) Lord Kenyon said that he was "clearly of the opinion that the proprietor of a newspaper was answerable criminally as well as civilly for the acts of his servants or agents for misconduct in the management of the paper."
This was also the opinion of Lord Hale, Mr. Justice Powell, and Mr. Justice Foster.
Lofft, an English author, in his work on Libel and Slander, said:
"An information for libel will lie against the publisher of a papers, although he did not know of its being put into the paper and stopped the sale as soon as he discovered it."
In the case of People vs. Clay (86 Ill., 147) the court held that -
"A person who makes a defamatory statement to the agent of a newspaper for publication, is liable both civilly and criminally, and his liability is shared by the agent and all others who aid in publishing it"45
A party is entitled to an adequate compensation for such pecuniary loss actually suffered by him as he has duly proved. Such damages, to be recoverable, must not only be capable of proof, but must actually be proved with a reasonable degree of certainty. We have emphasized that these damages cannot be presumed, and courts, in making an award must point out specific facts which could afford a basis for measuring whatever compensatory or actual damages are borne.It was the articles of Tulfo that caused injury to Atty. So, and for that Atty. So deserves the award of moral damages. Justification for the award of moral damages is found in Art. 2219(7) of the Civil Code, which states that moral damages may be recovered in cases of libel, slander, or any other form of defamation. As the cases involved are criminal cases of libel, they fall squarely within the ambit of Art. 2219(7).
Moral damages, upon the other hand, may be awarded to compensate one for manifold injuries such as physical suffering, mental anguish, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings and social humiliation. These damages must be understood to be in the concept of grants, not punitive or corrective in nature, calculated to compensate the claimant for the injury suffered. Although incapable of exactness and no proof of pecuniary loss is necessary in order that moral damages may be awarded, the amount of indemnity being left to the sound discretion of the court, it is imperative, nevertheless, that (1) injury must have been suffered by the claimant, and (2) such injury must have sprung from any of the cases expressed in Article 2219 and Article 2220 of the Civil Code. A causal relation, in fine, must exist between the act or omission referred to in the Code which underlies, or gives rise to, the case or proceeding on the one hand, and the resulting injury, on the other hand; i.e. the first must be the proximate cause and the latter the direct consequence thereof.49
WHEREFORE, the Court finds the accused ERWIN TULFO, SUSAN CAMBRI, REY SALAO, JOCELYN BARLIZO, and PHILIP PICHAY guilty beyond reasonable doubt of four (4) counts of the crime of LIBEL, as defined in Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code, and sentences EACH of the accused to pay a fine of SIX THOUSAND PESOS (PhP 6,000) per count of libel with subsidiary imprisonment, in case of insolvency.Costs against petitioners.
Considering that the accused Erwin Tulfo, Susan Cambri, Rey Salao, Jocelyn Barlizo, and Philip Pichay wrote and published the four (4) defamatory articles with reckless disregard whether it was false or not, the said articles being libelous per se, they are hereby ordered to pay complainant Atty. Carlos T. So, jointly and severally, the sum of ONE MILLION PESOS (PhP 1,000,000) as moral damages. The claim of actual and exemplary damages is denied for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.
Carpio Morales, Nachura, and Brion, JJ., concur.
Quisumbing, (Chairperson), dissent, on the ground of sufficient proof lacking for "actual malice" required in libel case prosecution.
Endnotes:
* Additional member as per August 27, 2008 raffle.
1Rollo (G.R. No. 161032), p. 39.
2 Id. at 38-39.
3 Id. at 39-40.
4 Id. at 40-41.
5 Id. at 41-42.
6 Id. at 42.
7 Id. at 43.
8 Id. at 44.
9Rollo (G.R. No. 161176), p. 88.
10Rollo (G.R. No. 161032), p. 44.
11 Id. at 45-46.
12 Id. at 46-47.
13 Id. at 48-49.
14 Id. at 49-50.
15 Id. at 50-51.
16 Id. at 38-39.
17 Id. at 52.
18 Id. at 53.
19 Penned by Associate Justice Mercedes Gozo-Dadole and concurred in by Associate Justices Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. and Rosemari D. Carandang.
20Rollo (G.R. No. 161032), p. 68.
21Rollo (G.R. No. 161176), p. 168.
22Rollo (G.R. No. 161032), pp. 16-17.
23Rollo (G.R. No. 161176), p. 20.
24 G.R. No. 126466, January 14, 1999, 301 SCRA 1.
25 Id. at 22.
26Rollo (G.R. No. 161032), p. 10.
27 Id. at 11.
28 Id. at 12.
29 Supra note 24, at 30-31.
30Borjal, supra at 23.
31Brillante v. Court of Appeals, G.R. NOS. 118757 & 121571, October 19, 2004, 440 SCRA 541, 574.
32 A.M. No. 93-2-037 SC, April 6, 1995, 243 SCRA 299, 332.
33 Id. at 327.
34 2 Reyes, Luis B., The Revised Penal Code 858 (13thed., 1993).
35 Black's Law Dictionary 595 (6th ed., 1990).
36 Id. at 1508.
37 376 US 254, 11 L ed. 2nd 686.
38 G.R. No. 139987, March 31, 2005, 454 SCRA 440, 456.
39 29 Phil. 595 (1915).
40Smith v. Utley, 92 Wis 133, 65 NW 744; Faulkner v. Martin, 133 NJL 605, 45 A2d 596; World Pub. Co. v. Minahan, 70 Okla 107, 173 P 815.
41Faulkner, supra.
42World Pub. Co., supra.
43Faulkner, supra; Goudy v. Dayron Newspapers, Inc., 14 Ohio App 2d 207, 43 Ohio Ops 2d 444, 237 NE2d 909.
44 G.R. No. 157643, March 20, 2008.
45U.S. v. Ocampo, 18 Phil. 1, 50-52 (1910).
46 G.R. No. 142409, March 24, 2006, 485 SCRA 275.
47 G.R. No. 120715, March 29, 1996, 255 SCRA 692.
48 Administrative Circular No. 08-2008. See Fermin v. People, G.R. No. 157643, March 28, 2008.
49 G.R. No. 1045676, January 20, 1995, 240 SCRA 348, 356-357.
50Patricio v. Leviste, G.R. No. 51832, April 26, 1989, 172 SCRA 774, 781.