Vice presidential candidate Walden Bello. Photo from his Facebook page DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 November) – The lawyers of defeated vice presidential candidate Prof. Walden Bello maintained that …
DAVAO CITY – The lawyers of defeated vice presidential candidate Prof. Walden Bello maintained that the prosecution has failed to establish actual malice in his social media post concerning former Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas that would warrant the filing of two counts of cyberlibel.
“Why the need for actual malice? That is because the informations contain recitals, on the other hand, that private complainant is the Davao City Public Information Office. As such she is a public official or public figure,” Bello’s legal team said. “Since the penal code and implicitly, the cybercrime law, mainly target libels against persons. The court recognizes that these laws imply a stricter standard of ‘malice’ to convict the author of a defamatory statement where the offended party is a public figure,” they added.
They said Tupas did not cease being a public figure after her stint with the local government of Davao. “Private complainant is a trusted aide handling public information and media for no less than Sara Duterte. In fact, not long after she was terminated as Davao City PIO, private complainant now works in the Office of the Vice President in the same capacity. She is a public figure,” Bello’s lawyers said.
Last August, Duterte denied any involvement in the two counts of cyber libel filed by Tupas against Bello.
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