Personal Insight- Decriminalizing Libel

Libel is defined as a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or a vice or defect, real imaginary or any act, omission, condition status or circumstances tending to cause the dsihonor, discredit or contempt of a natural or judicial person or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.

Every citizien enjoys a private reputation that is being covered by the constitutional state. However, if the right is hindered by malicious judgement of somebody who only tries or attempts to destroy that person's reputation, then he can be liable for libel.

Yet, libel is not just a simple case that can be just file to anyone whenever he/ she gets insulted by somebody, becasue libel can only be valid if their is a reasonable ground for applying for it.

Libel is the most common case that journalists and media persons get whenever they get to offend somebody especially those people who are public officials and those who are in high position whom sometimes abuse their powers to file libel cases against media people just because they belive that they are private individuals, which was a contrary to who they are.

For the past years, Mr. Arroyo, the First Gentleman had the most numbers of libel cases filed to journalists. He filed different libel cases to 43 reporters, columnist, editors, publishers and even a subscription manager, of various publications.

He file the cases of libel against one of them for the reason that a magazine named Newsbreak, published Mr. Arroyo's undeclared property in San Francisco last Decemeber 2003. Marites Vitug, editor-in-chief of Newsbreak said that they have only published what they have found out and that they did not added more than what they knew, so they were really disappointed hen they knew about the case and because theyfelt that they can no lonnger seek protection from the law.

This was aslo the reason why many journalists are against how libel cases are being overruled. Lots of journalists, even those who are not media practitioners are already complaining on how this libel is being used to decline the right of the people to express their thoughts for they might just be sued by just only a single word that they will express.

Even I do strongly agree that the First Gentleman and even other public officials are obviously abusing their powers on the power of libel against people who are not in fvor with them. These people think that when they have the power they can do anything they want event though they are already stepping on somebody else's ego.

In the case of Mr. Arroyo, definitely he is one of those people who are abusing the statute just to hide his mistakes to the public. He is assuming that he should be treated as a private individual, but many thinks that he is not aware that he is the husband of the president, that he is a public fugure and at the same time a public officer and that he is accountable for criticism if he does something that people sees as his wrongful acts. Yet, he still ignoes that fact which only make people think that whenever his wifeis in the position he should be condisdered as invincible.

It is the reason why I also do agree that libel should really be decriminalize. I'm not saying that libel shoudld be totally decriminalize, for if that will be the case there would be lots of people who will abuse the situation and will write improper writeups of some other people, I'm just saying that libel should be decriminalize in a proper way. People who are inclined in doing improper things should watch their acts carefully so that they won't be noticed by the pubic. Moreover, public figures should also be sports whenever someone will criticize them because they are part of public matters.
Decriminalizing libel is just proper for only those abusive when it comes to their power. Courts should analyze carfully if the case is libelous enough for libel is slowly turning out to be a way of supressing the right of the media people in delivering the right information to the public and not just them but also those people who are just being abused by libel.