SC affirms libel conviction vs Cristy Fermin

The Supreme Court has affirmed the libel conviction of showbiz columnist Cristinelli “Cristy” Fermin and ordered her to pay a P6,000 fine and P500,000 each to Annabelle Rama and her husband, Eddie Gutierrez, for moral damages.

In its 24-page decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, the Court’s Third Division affirmed the Sept. 3, 2002 decision of the Court of Appeals, which found Fermin guilty of libel but acquitted her co-respondent, Bogs Tugas.

The Gutierrezes sued Fermin and Tugas, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Gossip Tabloid, respectively, after a story came out on June 14, 1995, alleging that the Gutierrez couple returned to the Philippines after pocketing the proceeds from the sale of expensive cookware instead of remitting the money to the manufacturer in the United States.

The tabloid article also alleged that Rama failed to remit the money because she was a heavy gambler.

Fermin claimed she had no hand in the publication of the article, but the Supreme Court found her argument “too simplistic” since as publisher, president and chairperson of Gossip Tabloid, she had “full control over the publication of articles.”     – Mike Frialde