Liza Diño sues entertainment site for cyber libel
Liza Diño (middle) with her husband Ice Seguerra (right) and her legal counsel (left). Image: Facebook/Liza Diño-Seguerra
Liza Diño filed cyber libel complaints against entertainment website PEP.ph, which also implead several other personalities including former Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chairperson Tirso Cruz III and current agency head Jose Javier Reyes.
Diño, also a former FDCP chairperson, took legal action over the outlet’s “malicious articles” released in 2023 that, she said, “didn’t seek to inform but to damage and destroy [her],” as per her Facebook page on Friday, May 24. It was not immediately stated, however, which articles she was referring to.
“Matagal kong pinag-isipan ito. It took almost a year of endless discussions with my husband and family because this decision is difficult to make,” she said. “The entertainment industry revolves around public opinion and by doing something like this, people might judge me all over again. Hindi ko alam kung kakayanin ko pa kaya nanahimik na ako.”
“Pero ito ba yung tama? Why am I allowing their false narrative to be the truth when I know my truth. I know THE truth,” she stated.
READ: Sharon Cuneta, Kiko Pangilinan file cyber libel complaint vs Cristy Fermin
Diño—who was accompanied by her husband Ice Seguerra—and her legal team headed by Atty. Regie Tongol filed four complaints involving 78 counts of cyber libel before the Office of the Prosecutor of Quezon City, with the actress stating that the defendants attempted to “tarnish [her] reputation by manipulating public opinion.”
“Regardless of the outcome, I will rest easy knowing that I stood up for myself and demanded accountability,” she added. “My story continues. I have so much to look forward to and so many people in my life that I cherish, and for that, I am thankful.”
Tongol also released a statement regarding the matter in which the names of the defendants were disclosed. Cruz and Reyes, the lawyer said, were impleaded “for their hand in the actions” of the entertainment website against Diño.
The lawyer further claimed that PEP.ph released a series of “damaging articles in rapid succession” that created “sustained negative publicity” against Diño.
“Our client is doing this in order to send a message that ‘the exercise of press freedom must be done consistent with good faith and reasonable care,” Tongol added.
PEP.ph, in response, said it has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, but that it “intends to avail of any and all legal remedies available to it, and shall intently cooperate with the QC OCP for the proper resolution of the said complaint.”
Image: Facebook/Pep.ph
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