Cyber libel is punishable by fine or imprisonment

Dear PAO,

My brother was accused of cyber libel. He was found guilty and ordered to pay a certain amount as a fine. The private complainant told us that he intends to question the decision because cyber libel is punishable by imprisonment, and the fine imposed may be wrong. According to him, offenses under Republic Act (RA) 10175 are punishable by a penalty one degree higher than that provided under the Revised Penal Code, so it is presumed that the penalty mentioned here pertains only to imprisonment since this penalty can be increased by degrees. Is he correct?

Thelma

Dear Thelma,

In general, libel is defined under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines as: “public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.” Article 355 of the same code, as amended, then prescribes the penalty, viz: “A libel committed by means of writing, printing, lithography, engraving, radio, phonograph, painting, theatrical exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means, shall be punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (P40,000) to One million two hundred thousand pesos (P1,200,000), or both, in addition to the civil action which may be brought by the offended party.”

The aforestated crime, when committed through a computer or other similar means, is punishable under Section 4(C)(4) of RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which provides: “The unlawful or prohibited acts of libel as defined in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.” Correlative thereto, Section 6 of the same law also states: “All crimes defined and penalized by the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and special laws, if committed by, through and with the use of information and communications technologies shall be covered by the relevant provisions of this Act: Provided, That the penalty to be imposed shall be one (1) degree higher than that provided for by the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and special laws, as the case may be.”

Pertaining to degrees in penalty, Article 75 of the Revised Penal Code provides: “Whenever it may be necessary to increase or reduce the penalty of fine by one or more degrees, it shall be increased or reduced, respectively, for each degree, by one-fourth of the maximum amount prescribed by law, without however, changing the minimum. The same rules shall be observed with regard to fines that do not consist of a fixed amount but are made proportional.”

A cyber libel, then, is clearly punishable by imprisonment or a fine. This is also in consonance with the decision entitled People of the Philippines v. Soliman, GR 256700, April 25, 2023, where the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., stated:

“Relevantly, the RPC recognizes that the penalty of fine may be imposed as a single or alternative penalty, which means it can be imposed in lieu of imprisonment, as obviously shown by the fact that the RPC provides for the alternative penalty of fine in many of its provisions. Specifically on libel, the penalty of fine may also be imposed in the alternative, which is evident in the RPC’s plain use of the disjunctive word “or” between the term of imprisonment and fine, such word signaling disassociation or independence between the two words.

Petitioner appears to conclude that Section 6 mandates imprisonment as a penalty for online libel because it provides that the penalty shall be ‘one degree higher than that provided in the [IOC].’ Thus, petitioner erroneously assumes that only imprisonment may be increased or decreased by degrees under the RPC. Verily, petitioner’s argument is belied by Article 75 of the RPC xxx.”

Applying the above-quoted decision in your situation, libel as an offense punishable under RA 10175 is punishable by imprisonment or a fine. If a fine is imposed, the same may be a single or alternative penalty. Thus, there is no legal basis to support the statement of the private complainant in your brother’s case that online or cyber libel is punishable by imprisonment only since this is a penalty that can be increased or decreased by degrees. It is important to emphasize that under Article 75 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, a fine as a penalty may also be increased or decreased by degrees.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]