Jimenez v. Cabangbang

Jimenez v. Cabangbang

G.R. No. L-15905  August 3, 1966

Concepcion, C.J.

Facts:

                This is an ordinary civil action for the recovery, by plaintiffs Nicanor T. Jimenez, Carlos J. Albert and Jose L. Lukban, of several sums of money, by way of damages for the publication of an allegedly libelous letter of defendant Bartolome Cabangbang. At the time of said publication, defendant was a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of its Committee on National Defense.

Issue:

whether the publication in question is a privileged communication; whether the aforementioned publication falls within the purview of the phrase “speech or debate therein” of Article VI, Section 5 of the 1935 Constitution which provides that “[t]he Senators and Members of the House of Representatives shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of the Congress, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate therein, they shall not be questioned in any other place”

Held:

                No. The phrase “speech or debate therein” refers to utterances made by Congressmen in the performance of their official functions, such as speeches delivered, statements made, or votes cast in the halls of Congress, while the same is in session, as well as bills introduced in Congress, whether the same is in session or not, and other acts performed by Congressmen, either in Congress or outside the premises housing its offices, in the official discharge of their duties as members of Congress and of Congressional Committees duly authorized to perform its functions as such, at the time of the performance of the acts in question.

                The publication involved in this case does not belong to this category. According to the complaint herein, it was an open letter to the President of the Philippines, dated November 14, 1958, when Congress presumably was not in session, and defendant caused said letter to be published in several newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines, on or about said date. It is obvious that, in thus causing the communication to be so published, he was not performing his official duty, either as a member of Congress or as officer or any Committee thereof. Hence, said communication is not absolutely privileged.