Newsweek vs.

IAC
G.R. No. L-63599
Petitioner: Newsweek, Inc.
Respondent: Intermediate Appellate Court, etc.
Ponente: Feria, J.

May 30, 1986

ELEMENTS OF LIBELIDENTITY OF PERSON

Facts:
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Feb. 23, 1981 issue of Newsweek (a foreign corp with license to do business in the Phil.)
contained an article entitled An Island of Fear, which portrayed Negros Occidental as a place
dominated by big land owners or sugar planters who not only exploited the poor farmers, but also
killed them impunity.
Private respondents, incorporated associations of sugar planters in Negros Occidental which
claimed to have over 8500 members, filed a libel suit against petitioner and prayed for damages
amounting to P1M, among others.
Petitioner moved to have the case dismissed based on the article being 1. not actionable in fact
and in law 2. The suit does not have a cause of action.
Trial Court denied motion to dismiss; non-libelous nature of article for evidence to decide.
Intermediate Appellate Court affirmed TCs decision to deny motion to dismiss.

Issues/Held:
WoN there was a cause of action in private respondents suit?NO
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In order to maintain a libel case, it is essential that the victim is identifiable, or if directed to a
group/class, that the statement must be so sweeping or all-embracing as to apply to every
individual in that group or class, or sufficiently specific so that each individual in that class or
group can prove that the statement specifically pointed to him or her.
o Clearly not the case in the current petition; each one of the plaintiffs has a separate and
distinct reputation in the community. They do not have a common or general interest in
the subject matter.
As regards the action brought by Mayor Pablo Sola (Mayor of Kabankalan), the same cannot
prosper because what written about him in the articlethat a victim was arrested by special
police and was brought to his placeclearly denotes an official act performed by an elective
public official, and is the realm of protection of free speech and free press.

WoN the denial of the motion to dismiss was proper?NO

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Usually, a motion to dismiss is interlocutory, and cannot be subject to appeal until final judgment
is rendered. This is of course subject to exceptions, such as in this case where the petitioner
claimed and proved that there is no cause of action to warrant a full-blown trial.