The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office recommended the filing of three counts of cyber libel cases against Rowena Burden following her series of “malicious” tirades against Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia on social media.
The five complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation on separate occasions were consolidated by the Provincial Prosecutor into three counts of cyberlibel charges which will be elevated for filing in Court.
The 18-page resolution penned by Prosecutor Reina Carmel Rivas and approved by Provincial Prosecutor Ludivico Cutaran also set P48,000 bail for each count.
While none of the complaints were dismissed contrary to Burden’s claims in her recent social media posts, three out of the five complaints were deemed defamatory and libelous by the Prosecutor, while the two other complaints showed malicious intent that will support the other three.
The cases were based on Burden’s 12 Facebook posts against Garcia which were considered “malicious, false, denigrating, and defamatory” and had nothing to do with the discharge of her function as a public official.
The resolution stated that Burden’s personal attacks on Garcia’s private life "is no longer acting in furtherance to her freedom of speech”.
“It is neither respondent's right nor duty to tackle topics that are purely private under the guise of fair commentaries on matters of public interest. People, who may be drawn to gossip, may be interested in knowing but it is not the kind of public interest that the general public ought to know,” Rivas stated.