Pangandaman Libel Case Could Turn Bloody

Last Friday, what the public seemed to miss was the alleged filing of a libel charge against Bambee dela Paz, the kid involved in that golf melee at Valley Golf and Country Club. A GMA 7 report said that the Pangandamans reportedly filed a case against Bambee due to the kid's account of what had happened in that fateful December day. According to reports, the Pangandamans want to punish Bambee for publishing what happened. It says that those entries were "malicious" and with "intention to cause malice" on the Pangandaman.

I say, for this charge to stick, the Pangandamans have to prove two things: first, that the entry was written with the intent to impute a crime in a malicious manner and second, they also would have to prove that the internet or that blog is a "publication."

Strictly, in our jurisdiction, if you want to charge someone with a crime, you have to look at the Revised Penal Code first before you even say that someone actually committed a felony against you. If the act is not listed in the RPC as a "crime", then, you can't charge him.

In this case, there is still no settled jurisprudence on internet libel. You can say what you want to say, write what you want to write, and still, you'll not be charged with libel. Simply put, act falls not under any crime in the RPC and other laws, then, it is not criminal. It could be tortuous, meaning, you can probably get recompense through a civil suit.

If the Pangandamans want to regain their honor and dignity, as what they charged they actually intend to accomplish by this inane libel charge, they will not get it. In fact, I believe they will probably incur the ire of everyone in the blogosphere and possibly cause a revolution. I am not joking.

If the State wants to use the Pangandaman case as a test case to be able to lodge complaints against Filipino bloggers, please be forewarned.

The internet is the last bastion of democracy, freedom and liberty in this country. Many people write and lambast the government via this democratic channel simply because they can't go to the streets everyday. This is the only venue left to express dissent. If the Arroyo administration intends to use this case to cause a chilling effect to us, bloggers, again, let me very candid---it will never work. Instead, the opposite would happen. People will rise up. People will militate. People will go to the mountains and show their anger there. It was good that we have the internet to express our anger, our angst and other disgusts with what is happening in this country. Should government go ahead with its devilish plan of controlling even the cyberspace, then, we have a war in the offing.

MR. SECRETARY PANGANDAMAN YOU NEED TO PUT A STOP TO THIS DASTARDLY PLAN OF YOURS. YOU WILL NEVER WIN. AND EVEN IF YOU DO WIN IN A PHILIPPINE COURT OF LAW, PEOPLE LIKE ME WILL WAGE BATTLE AGAINST YOU EVEN BEYOND THE BLOGOSPHERE. WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL WE GET OUR FREEDOMS BACK.

BAMBEE HAS ALL THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS WHAT HE WANTED TO EXPRESS WHEN THAT UNFORTUNATE GOLF INCIDENT HAPPENED. WHY PUNISH HIM FOR HIS THOUGHTS? WHY PUNISH EXPRESSION?

MR. PANGANDAMAN, THERE IS A LIMIT TO EVERYTHING. YOU ARROGANT SCUM SHOULD TEACH YOURSELF TO RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S VIEWS AND TRY NOT TO BE ARROGANT. WITH THIS, YOU LOST ONE WHO FROM DAY ONE, WROTE AN OBJECTIVE VIEW ON THIS INCIDENT.