Dear PAO,

I have a question about an article I found online last Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. The libelous article pertains to the goods I am selling online. To my surprise, I discovered that many people have already seen it because it has more than three hundred likes and more than one hundred shares on social media. I want to file a cyber libel case against the author, but the said article was written and posted on June 13, 2021. Can I still file a case against the author even though it was published more than three years ago?

Faith

Dear Faith,

Prescription of crimes refers to the period allowed to file a case against the perpetrator of the crime. It serves as a time limit within which legal action must be initiated against the offender. Once the prescription has set in, the authorities have no right to prosecute and punish an individual for the crime he or she committed.

Prescription of crimes is specifically provided under Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which states that:

“Art. 90. Prescription of crimes.— Crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua or reclusion temporal shall prescribe in twenty years. Crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties shall prescribe in fifteen years. Those punishable by a correctional penalty shall prescribe in ten years; with the exception of those punishable by arresto mayor, which shall prescribe in five years. The crime of libel or other similar offenses shall prescribe in one year. The offenses of oral defamation and slander by deed shall prescribe in six months.”

Relatedly, the prescriptive period for a crime may begin to run upon the discovery by the affected or offended party as found in Article 91 of the said Code, viz.:

“Article 91. Computation of prescription of offenses. – The period of prescription shall commence to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information, and shall commence to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted, or are unjustifiably stopped for any reason not imputable to him. The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from the Philippine Archipelago.”

In the situation you mentioned, you may file a cyber libel case against the author of the article you found online even though more than three years have passed since it was published. This is because you recently discovered the libelous article on Sept. 21, 2024. Applying the above-mentioned laws, you still have one year to file a case from the time you discovered it.

We hope that we are able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]