Ladies and gentlemen, to our dear panelists, to our dear adjudicators, and to

my fellow debaters—a pleasant morning to all.

As the beneficiality speaker of the negative side, "Let it be resolved that libel
be criminalized".

First and foremost, the impact of false information on a person has

significantly deteriorated with the growth of internet and social media.
According to the Philippine National Police - Anti-Cybercrime Group, in 2016,
online libel became the top cybercrime complaint of Filipino internet users,
with 494 complaints reported compared to the 311 in 2015. It comprised
26.49% of the 1,865 cybercrime complaints for 2016. Such utterances have
the potential to ruin someone's career and social position and also have the
potential to cause emotional distress and as well as throw them into
depression. Considering that, one could argue that the possibility of receiving
legal damages is no longer sufficient to provide a sense of justice to libel
victims.

Secondly, making libel illegal serves as a deterrent to those who might

purposefully publish untrue or damaging information about others.
Decriminalizing libel might encourage more untrue or destructive claims made
about someone without any repercussions. In addition to that, false
information may be more widely disseminated as a result of the
decriminalization of libel, which could have serious social and political
consequences. It could remove this restraint and encourage more
disinformation. Criminalizing libel can serve as a deterrent to those who might
intentionally spread false information.

Lastly, decriminalizing libel may raise legal issues on what constitutes libel
and the appropriate legal remedies. This can lead to conflicting legal decisions
and put more pressure on civil courts. Criminal penalties for libel help keep
people and media organizations responsible for their actions. For example,
Reynaldo Santos Jr., a senior researcher/writer of Rappler, was arrested due
to disinformation about human trafficking and drug smuggling, it has spread
against Wilfredo Keng who is a businessman in year 2012. Decriminalizing
libel would result in a lack of accountability, which would make it more
difficult for individuals to seek justice and have their reputations cleared.

In conclusion, decriminalizing libel will help to the rising number of cyber libel
in our country that can lead to depression and anxiety. It will result to a
widespread of false information that will affect our country socially and
politically. And lastly, decriminalizing libel may raise legal issues and
undermine people's accountability for their actions.

That concludes my speech I now submit myself to interpellation.