Boracay-based radio blocktimer convicted for libel

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

An Aklan court on Wednesday, April 12, found a local radio commentator guilty of libel over statements he made against a Chinese businessman alleging employee abuse back in mid-2020.

Judge Nelson Bartolome of the Kalibo Regional Trial Court Branch 8 found Jimmy Bañares guilty and ordered him to pay a ₱150,000 fine.

The conviction stemmed from Bañares’ comments in his Radyo Birada program aired over Radio Boracay Station 106.1 FM against Chinese national Yong Quiang “Johnzon” Zhu, who owned a scuba diving school located in Boracay Island.

In his 14-page Judgment, Bartolome remarked that the statements made by Bañares satisfied five elements of libel under Article 353 in relation to Art. 355 of Act No. 3815 (Revised Penal Code).

The judgment affirmed that the commentator explicitly accused Zhu of attempted murder publicly through his radio program. It was done with malice as the complainant was positively identified in the remarks, which caused dishonor and discredit upon the business owner.

“Notwithstanding the fact that he did not name the victim in this case, the following facts and circumstance spelled out by the accused in his broadcasts, taken altogether, clearly points to the private complainant as the object of his defamatory statements,” the judgment stated.

But the judge stopped short of aggravating the verdict to Cyber-Libel under Republic Act No. 10175 (Cybercrime Act of 2012), saying that while it was also broadcasted to radio, the fact that a computer system was used could not be proven.

“[W]hile it was clearly established that the defamatory statements were broadcasted over radio, there is no proof as to what device or group of interconnected or related devices was utilized by the accused in, simultaneously, publishing the broadcast in his Facebook page,” the decision said.

According to the facts of the case, one employee who had been working in the hotel where Zhu was staying, heard Bañares airing foul words and a deportation threat against Zhu during his program, which aired on June 5, 2020.

The malicious comments continued in the following days, which prompted the cancellation of the businessman’s lease with the hotel where his scuba diving school was located.

The Revised Penal Code, as amended by Section 91 of Rep. Act No. 10951, sets the penalty for libel to prision correccional (minimum of 6 months and 1 day to 6 years maximum) or a fine ranging from ₱40,000 to ₱1.2 million, or both.

But the judgment was limited to the ₱150,000 fine, citing the Supreme Court’s Administrative Circular No. 08-2008, which set a rule of preference of imposing a fine alone in libel cases.

Aside from the fine, Bañares was also ordered to pay Zhu a total of ₱150,000, as moral damages (₱100,000) and exemplary damages (₱50,000).