MANILA - The Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of Ang Datin Daan evangelist Bro. Eli Soriano in a libel case filed against him by Jesus Miracle Crusade (JMC) evangelist Wilde Almeda.

In the same decision however, the high court acquitted Soriano from another libel case filed by JMC.

WHAT HAPPENED

The case stemmed from statements made by Soriano on a radio program in Iriga City in July 1998 wherein he called Almeda names, including "bulaang propeta" or false prophet and "pastor ng mga demonyo" or "pastor of demons".

The Iriga City regional trial court in June 2012 convicted him of 2 counts of libel and ordered him to pay P6,000 in fines for each count.

That ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in August 2015.

SC RULING

In affirming Soriano's conviction, Justice Noel Tijam of the high court's First Division said the words "g*go," "t*rantadong pastor," "pastor ng demonyo iyan," and "bulaang propeta" when referring to Almeda are clearly defamatory and there was no justifiable motive or good intention for uttering these words.

The court also said Soriano's statements could not be considered "qualifiedly privileged communications" exempt from liability because they cannot be considered private communications, fair and true report nor fair commentary.

Instead, the Court upheld CA's findings that the apparent objective of Soriano was to discredit and humiliate Almeda.

The court rejected Soriano's claim of religious freedom.

"Plain and simple insults directed at another person cannot be elevated to the status of religious speech. Even petitioner attempts to place his words in context show that he was moved by anger and the need to seek retribution, not by any religious conviction," it said.

However, the court acquitted Soriano in the libel case filed by JMC because aside from Almeda, he did not mention any other pastor of JMC.

The court relied on an earlier SC case requiring identification of libel victims as a requisite for a libel case to prosper.

The SC decision was promulgated on November 21 but was released to the media only on Wednesday.