Dear Atty. Peachy,

I am currently a senior student at a university and the president of our student council. Because of my position, I meet a variety of people, some of whom have toxic personalities.

There is one particular girl at the student council who is very toxic. I will just refer to her as Lala. She makes an issue out of everything, even out of trivial matters. She particularly targets me because she felt insulted at one of my actions concerning her during one of our planning meetings.

I honestly still do not understand how I insulted her but it appears that she carried a personal vendetta against me because of it. I feel drained and have less physical and mental energy after spending time with her during meetings. I try not to feel low and demoralized whenever she openly attacks my ideas or my performance during meetings. I just tell myself that it is part of the job and try not to get affected by her.

Except for some members of our group who commiserate with me and who try to back me up, most of the members of our group just keep quiet perhaps for fear of being persecuted by her.

Recently, one of our batchmates who is her orgmate reached out to me and informed me about how this girl had been spreading rumors about me in their group chat. She said that her cousin personally knows me and has said a lot of good things about me which was the opposite of what Lala had been portraying me in their group chat. She said that she could not take all the rumor-mongering anymore so she decided to reach out to me.

I was surprised at all the false rumors that Lala had been spreading against me in their group chat, including the malicious imputation that I am allegedly a mistress of our student council adviser.

Can I file a case of cyber libel against her? Her orgmate who reached out to me warned me that the case might not prosper because I was not particularly named in those rumors and malicious imputations. She, however, told me that everyone in the group knew that Lala was referring to me.

Will a case of libel against her prosper even if the name of the injured party was not specifically identified?

      Aiza

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Dear Aiza,

Yes, you have a cause of action for cyber libel against Lala and, under the circumstances, your case may prosper even if she did not particularly name you in their group chat.

Cyber libel is governed by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, specifically under Section 4(c)(4). It defines cyber libel as the unlawful or prohibited act of committing libel through a computer system or any other similar means. Just like libel under the Revised Penal Code, the essential elements of libel must be met, including the defamatory imputation, malice, publication and identifiability of the victim.

Referring to a person as a mistress and all other allegations that ascribe to a person the commission of a crime, the possession of a vice or defect, or any act, omission, or condition that tends to dishonor or discredit him is a defamatory imputation. In libel cases, malice is presumed if the defamatory statement is false and injurious. There is actual malice when the offender knows that the statement is false or disregards whether it is false or not.

The publication element of libel may be fulfilled as long as the statement is communicated to a third person or persons. Making a defamatory statement in a group chat where there are third persons who can read the messages therein could be considered publication.

As regards, the element of identifiability, the Supreme Court has elucidated that while the injured party must be identifiable to maintain a libel suit, the person doesn’t need to be named.

It is enough if by reference the allusion is apparent or if the publication contains matters of description or reference to facts and circumstances from which others reading the article may know the person alluded to, or if the latter is pointed out by extraneous circumstances so that those knowing such person could and did understand that he was the person referred to.

Atty. Peachy Selda-Gregorio