(Eagle News)–The Supreme Court has affirmed the libel conviction of a blogger who accused now-Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon of corruption in social media.
In affirming the Sept. 18, 2018 and March 7, 2019 resolutions of the CA that affirmed with modification a Pasay court’s conviction of Manuel Mejorada, the SC said the appellate court correctly ruled that the elements of libel in his posts were sufficiently established by the prosecution.
According to the SC, the accusatory character of the articles, and Mejorada’s failure to present any proof that the statements were based on established and documented facts negates his claim that the articles were made in good faith.
The SC added the prosecution’s failure to present the private complainant as a witness was not “fatal” as the other prosecution witnesses sufficiently established the damage caused by the publication of the articles.
The High Court noted the CA also correctly imposed imprisonment as penalty instead of a fine, as the SC did not remove the discretion of the trial courts to impose such if a fine was insufficient to meet the demands of substantial justice.
“Here, the CA sufficiently outlined the circumstances that warranted imprisonment,” the SC said.
