ON "UGLY!" AS LIBEL

Jover Laurio, supposedly a law student and a blogger with nearly 100,000 followers, sues for libel on the ground that the defendant called her ugly.

In Guingging vs CA (G.R. No. 128959):

"...If the statements made against the public figure are essentially true, then no conviction for libel can be had. Any statement that does not contain a provably false factual connotation will receive full constitutional protection."

A cursory glance at Laurio's photographs, especially the one that she herself posted not too long ago, a photograph that features herself in a revealing swimsuit (see image), affirms the truthfulness of the defendant's statements vis-a-vis, at the least, the general aesthetic standards of this era.

The suppposedly libelous statement may have been false, with emphasis on "may", if it were published during the Dark Ages or right after an asteroid decimated the dinosaurs, but those days have long passed.

That is, the photograph squarely lays the burden of proof onto the plaintiff, i.e. it is incumbent upon the plaintiff Laurio to prove that the defendant's allegations are sufficiently false.

That is, Laurio's challenge would be to convince the court that she's pretty.

With these said, ThinkingPinoy wishes her the best of luck.