Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
W/N BP 880 is vague and/or NO. The law is very clear and is
overbroad. nowhere vague in its provisions.
“Public” does not have to be
defined. Its ordinary meaning is
well-known. Not every
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Constitutional Law Case Digest Matrix Set 6 – Stef Macapagal
trial court ruled in Wenceslao’s legitimate interest in his doings, The privileged character of a
favor. The CA affirmed. his affairs and his character, has communication destroys the
become a “public personage.” It presumption of malice. Mere
includes anyone who has arrived error, inaccuracy, or even falsity
at a position where the public alone does not prove actual
attention is focused upon him as malice. Errors or misstatements
a person. As Executive Director are inevitable in any scheme of
and Spokesman of the said truly free expression and debate.
conference, Wenceslao Consistent with good faith and
consequently assumed the status reasonable care, the press should
of a public figure. not be held to account, to a point
of suppression, for honest
W/N Borjal acted with malice in NO. Borjal was moved by a mistakes or imperfections in the
the publication of the articles. sense of civic duty and prodded choice of language. There must
by his responsibility as a be some room for misstatement
newspaperman to expose and of fact as well as for
denounce what he perceived to misjudgment. Only by giving
be a public deception. Surely, we them much leeway and tolerance
cannot begrudge him for that. To can they courageously and
be considered malicious, the effectively function as critical
libelous statements must be agencies in our democracy.
shown to have been written or
published with the knowledge A privileged communication may
that they are false or in reckless be either absolutely privileged or
disregard of whether they are qualifiedly privileged.
false or not. The articles in the Absolutely privileged
instant case can hardly be said to communications are those which
have been written with are not actionable even if the
knowledge that these are false or author has acted in bad faith. An
in reckless disregard of what is example is found in Sec. 11, Art.
false or not. They were based on VI of the 1987 Constitution
reasonable grounds formed after which exempts a member of
the columnist conducted several Congress from liability for any
personal interviews and after speech or debate in the Congress
considering the varied or any Committee thereof. Upon
documentary evidence provided the other hand, qualifiedly
him by his sources. privileged communications
containing defamatory
imputations are not actionable
unless found to have been made
without good intention or
justifiable motive. To this genre
belong “private communications”
and “fair and true report without
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Constitutional Law Case Digest Matrix Set 6 – Stef Macapagal
Dissent: Kapunan, J.
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Constitutional Law Case Digest Matrix Set 6 – Stef Macapagal