BORJAL v CA

FACTS: A civil action for damages based on libel was filed before the court against Borjal and
Soliven for writing and publishing articles that are allegedly derogatory and offensive against
Francisco Wenceslao, attacking among others the solicitation letters he sent to support a
conference to be launched concerning resolving matters on transportation crisis that is tainted
with anomalous activities. Wenceslao however was never named in any of the articles nor was
the conference he was organizing. The lower court ordered petitioners to indemnify the private
respondent for damages which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. A petition for review was
filed before the SC contending that private respondent was not sufficiently identified to be the
subject of the published articles.

ISSUE: Whether or not Borjal (the newspaperman) is entitled to qualified privileged

communications (freedom of speech).

HELD: Yes. The concept of privileged communications is implicit in the freedom of the press
and that privileged communications must be protective of public opinion. Fair commentaries on
matters of public interest are privileged and constitute a valid defense in an action for libel or
slander. The doctrine of fair comment means that while in general every discreditable imputation
publicly made is deemed false, because every man is presumed innocent until his guilt is
judicially proved, and every false imputation is deemed malicious, nevertheless, when the
discreditable imputation is directed against a public person in his public capacity, it is not
necessarily actionable. In order that such discreditable imputation to a public official may be
actionable, it must either be a false allegation of fact or a comment based on a false
supposition. If the comment is an expression of opinion, based on established facts, then it is
immaterial that the opinion happens to be mistaken, as long as it might reasonably be inferred
from the facts.

The questioned article dealt with matters of public interest as the declared objective of the
conference, the composition of its members and participants, and the manner by which it was
intended to be funded no doubt lend to its activities as being genuinely imbued with public
interest. Respondent is also deemed to be a public figure and even otherwise is involved in a
public issue. The court held that freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed and
protected with the reminder among media members to practice highest ethical standards in the
exercise thereof.