Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio on Thursday welcomed the Department of Justice’s dismissal of the cyberlibel complaint filed against him by Senator Risa Hontiveros, calling it a victory for press freedom and free expression.
He challenged the senator to walk the talk by refiling a bill she introduced in 2022 to decriminalize libel outright.
In dismissing the charges against Topacio, who writes a column for DAILY TRIBUNE, the DoJ’s panel of prosecutors ruled that while some of the respondents’ statements against Hontiveros may have been offensive, they were not legally actionable in themselves.
The panel cited the Supreme Court doctrine cautioning that sensitivity to criticism “has no place in this line of service,” warning that criminalizing such speech could create a chilling effect on public discourse.
Acquitted with Topacio were five other social media personalities, Byron “Banat By” Cristobal, Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, Krizette “Kiffy” Chu, Jose “Jay” Sonza, and Alex “Tio Moreno” Destor.
The cyberlibel complaint, filed by Hontiveros in July 2025, arose from the respondents’ alleged sharing on social media of a video in which former Senate witness Michael Maurillo claimed the senator had coerced him to give false testimony against Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and members of the Duterte family during hearings of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality.
