CA dismisses GMA executives' bid to reverse libel acquittal of ABS-CBN anchors

The Court of Appeals (CA) junked the bid of GMA Network executives to reverse the libel acquittal of ABS-CBN anchors and heads in connection to the latter's statements about the use of their exclusive video footage.

According to a Nov. 4 report by The Philippine STAR, the CA Third Division said in a ruling that the accused's right against double jeopardy will be violated if the court grants the petition for certiorari.

"Even assuming that the public respondent incorrectly appreciated the evidence before it, she only committed an error of judgment, and not one of jurisdiction, which could not be rectified by a petition for certiorari because double jeopardy had already set in when public respondent acquitted Tulfo, et al," it said in the 37-page decision penned by Associate Justice Eduardo Ramos, Jr. and concurred Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas Jr. and Perpetua Susana Atal-Paño.

The complaint was filed by GMA executives Felipe Gozon Gilberto Duavit Jr., Marissa Flores, Grace Dela Peña Reyes, and John Oliver Manalastas in 2013 after Kapamilya anchors, executives, and personnel—namely Erwin Tulfo, Eugenio Lopez III, Lynda Jumilla, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, Beth Frondoso, Maria Progena Estonilo Reyes, Annie Eugenio, Dondi Garcia, Luis Alejandro, Jose Ramon Olives, Jesus Jake Maderazo, Jose Magsaysay Jr., and Alfonso “Pal” Marquez—claimed that the Kapuso network had stolen their exclusive clip showing the homecoming of Angelo dela Cruz, a kidnapped overseas Filipino worker, in 2004.

ABS-CBN News reported that Tulfo, in the news program Insider, allegedly said at the time, “Kaya nakakalungkot po na may ibang istasyon na nagnakaw ng aming ekslusibong kuha. Pinag-iisipan po ng ABS-CBN na kasuhan ang GMA Network sa ginawang pamimirata ng footage kanina sa NAIA.”

Jumilla, in her report, also supposedly said, “Pinag-iisipan ng ABS-CBN na sampahan ng kaso ang GMA-7 dahil sa pagnanakaw ng video.”

The Quezon City Regional Trial court granted the ABS CBN's demurrer to evidence, tossing the libel case against them in 2022 through Judge Catherine Manodon. The trial court said the element of "identification" was not established in the case as "there were no references or descriptive terms that connected the statements to any of GMA's officers in their personal capacity," as stated in The STAR report. It also said "mere feelings" were not enough basis to file the case.

The move prompted GMA officers to submit a motion for reconsideration. Upon denial by the trial court, they decided to elevate it to the CA, arguing that they didn't have to be explicitly named in order for libel to be present and that the "allusion through intrinsic reference" was enough to show it.

The CA, however, said the appeal of GMA officials had a procedural defect due to the lack of conformity of the public prosecutor. It also noted that the filing of their petition for certiorari exceeded the 60-day reglementary period.

According to them, the trial court did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it ruled that the libel case against the Kapamilya personnel "was unsubstantiated and accordingly acquitted the accused," The STAR reported.

The CA also affirmed the trial court's decision that GMA officers could not have been defamed as they were not specified in the supposed libelous statements of the ABS-CBN personnel. It added that the trial court was right when it did not equate GMA with its officers, saying a corporation has a legal personality separate and distinct from that of people comprising it.
 
“If the alleged defamatory statement refers only to the corporation, an officer or stockholder ordinarily has no right to recover. Thus, even if the individual thinks that he has been injured by the libel of the corporation, he cannot recover unless he can show that he himself thereby also was libeled,” it read. "It is essential to the right of action that the plaintiff be at least one of the objects of the libel or slander. Here, it is undeniable that Gozon, et al. [GMA executives] were not the objects of the libelous statements." (with reports from Daphne Galvez, The Philippine STAR)