By Christine F. Herrera

The House yesterday approved on second reading a bill decriminalizing libel while its rules committee withheld debate on the right-to-reply bill until after a dialog with members of the press.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said the approval of the libel bill Wednesday night was Congress’ way of providing a counterbalance to the impact of the right-to-reply bill that would “encourage more responsible media practices.”

“The proposal to decriminalize libel has a neutralizing effect on the concerns that the right-to-reply bill will be used to trample on the freedom of the press and expression, which is guaranteed under our Constitution,” Nograles said.

The proposed libel law deletes the provision that imposes jail term on the libeler. But the amendment makes the penalties and fines even stiffer.

In lieu of the prison term, the penalty under the proposed libel law will be increased to a maximum of P300,000 from P100,000 per violation, while the fine in the right-to-reply, in its amended version, is reduced to P100,000 from P200,000.

But the right-to-reply bill as approved by the House committee on information also carries with it a jail term and prescribes the closure of the erring media entity.

Amid protests from the press calling for the scrapping of the right-to-reply bill, the principal author, Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella, moved to amend the bill and delete the clauses on prison term and closure of offices of the libeler.

Nograles proposed that all government agencies should designate spokesmen to answer calls from the media “so they can be given the chance to reply when issues are raised against them.”

Next week, the Speaker will host a dinner-dialog with a few national journalists and broadcasters on the right-to-reply bill.

But Nograles lamented that the House was being put in the “hot seat” when it was the Senate, voting 21-0, that first approved the right-to-reply bill on third and final reading. So far, four senators—Francis Joseph Escudero, Mar Roxas, Alan Peter Cayetano and Loren Legarda—have declared they were withdrawing their support of the right-to-reply bill.

“Personally, I support this Right of Reply measure but it should go hand-in-hand with the proposal to decriminalize libel,” Nograles said.

Nograles, also principal author of House Bill 5760 that seeks to decriminalize libel, said the venue of libel cases is made more convenient for the journalists, thereby lessening the avenues for harassment. But to keep the balance, the fines for libel are updated and made stiffer, the Speaker said.

The bill says that” in case of libel filed against a community journalist, his or her editor, business manager or publisher, the venue shall be the regional trial court of the province or city where the principal office or the place of business of the said community journalist, editor, business manager or publisher is located.”

The bill aims to allow journalists to do their work without fear of being jailed by reason of criminal complaints by those who are offended by their reporting, thereby encouraging media to be more vigilant and active in their crusade against graft and corruption.

The bill proposes to amend provisions of the Revised Penal Code on libel to slightly tilt the balance between the right to privacy and the right to information in favor of the latter.

The Senate counterpart of HB 5760 remains pending with the Senate committees on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, and public information and mass media.