No malice. That was the finding of the San Pedro City Prosecutor's Office in its decision to dismiss the libel case filed against OpinYon publisher Ray Junia by San Pedro City Vice Mayor Ina Olivarez.
In a five-page decision issued May 25, San Pedro City Prosecutor John Michael Sison said there is "insufficient evidence" to indict Junia of libel due to the cover story "Stupid!" published in OpinYon Laguna last February 20.
The article had covered the continuing acts of the city government, including Olivarez, to block city councilors Iryne Vierneza and Marion Acierto from taking their seats at the Sangguniang Panglungsod.
Vice Mayor Olivarez, in her case, had claimed that those who read the cover story had found it "nasty" and that the headline "STUPID!" was a "malicious imputation of a discreditable act intended to malign her."
"No malice can be presumed from the words 'STUPID!'" the city prosecutors' office wrote in its decision. "It cannot be reasonably inferred that that respondent Junia acted with malice in writing and publishing the assailed article."
The prosecutor added that the vice mayor "failed to substantiate that Junia was animated by a desire to inflict justifiable harm on her reputation, or that his article was written and published without good motives or justifiable ends."
The prosecutors' dismissal was guided by Supreme Court decisions on libel cases involving elected officials. A public figure or public official must prove that the alleged defamatory statement made against them made with actual malice - that is, "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."
As of press time, Olivarez's office has yet to issue a statement regarding the dismissal of her libel case against Junia.