Status and Satire: When is it Libelous?

In the recent dawn of the Cyber Crime Law in the Philippines, there was an outrage on the right to speech and how opinions are an innate right and the same goes for the ability to voice them out. I, myself, felt fears that if I let slip an unsavory opinion about a political figure or celebrity, I could do some jail time for Cyber Libel. Then a friend of mine who’s a lawyer in Manila defined libel for me, from which I learned 2 things: an opinion, even if negative in nature, does not constitute libel, and my misinformation was the source of my fears.

Let’s take one very popular post that flooded over the internet, the one about the MRT-3 giving very poor service as characterized in this photo:

Click here for the full post with necessary justification.

Why is this not libelous? Well, for one, it isn’t satirical too, but for starters, libel has to submit to 4 conditions. To be libelous, a statement 1) has be an allegation of a discreditable act, 2) has been published, 3) identifies the/a person, and 4) has the intent to malign—all of which must be met with the 4^th one being the burden that the appellant has to prove.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines satire as “using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc.”. this is characterized in popular media (the internet, primarily) through news reports that are not real, funny, and sarcastic in nature. Take the absurd (but nonetheless funny) news about Kris Aquino’s interview with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 cast Andrew Garfield. After what the social media has dubbed as an “unprofessional” interview, a satirical news report about the movie being cancelled was published, saying that the director saw that the movie will lose revenue in the Philippines and that the stars found that there should have been more product placement within the movie to make it an actual hit.

The thing with satire is that it is an informed opinion in the form of exacerbated comedy. It can sometimes be allegorical but most of the time, there is intelligent criticism within the satire and it is for the consumption of an intended audience. It’s like a Sunday column with the difference that it is a work of fiction. Further, to make satire, one has to be responsible and vigilant that one has to have been informed well and is actually a good humor writer because reasons.

So yeah, if you’re only out to give an informed critique on the current standing of the government, then by all means, be sardonic and sarcastic about it on social media (but make it good). If you, however, feel the need to share your thoughts on a political figure being unable to do his/her job well because he/she is too engrossed and busy with multiple partners, laundering money, and is homosexual, then be warned, malicious words burn you back.