If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all — the rule applies even on Facebook, where typing insults and hate speeches can now get you in legal trouble.
The Supreme Court has suspended Atty. Roberto “Argee” C. Guevarra for one year for insulting popular celebrity doctor Dr. Vicki Belo-Henares through his social media posts, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
Guevarra was the lawyer of a former Belo client Josefina Norcio who filed criminal cases against the doctor for an allegedly botched surgical procedure on her buttocks in 2002 and 2005. Guevarra’s online attacks reportedly started in 2009., back when there was no such thing as the Cybercrime Prevention Act .
In his Facebook posts, Guevarra called the Belo-Henares “quack doctor,” “Reyna ng Kaplastikan,” “Reyna ng Payola,” and “Reyna ng Kapalpakan.”
The lawyer said that the complainant “will go down in Medical History as a QUACK DOCTOR!!! QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK.” He also called Belo Medical Group Inc. (BMGI) a “Frankenstein Factory.”
Belo is known as the plastic surgeon of the stars in the Philippines. The Belo Medical Group currently has nine clinics in Manila.
The High Court said that Guevarra showed bad faith and revealed “an intention to besmirch Belo’s name and reputation.”
“By posting the subject remarks on Facebook directed at complainant and BMGI, respondent disregarded the fact that, as a lawyer, he is bound to observe proper decorum at all times, be it in his public or private life,” it lamented.
Moreover, the Supreme Court stressed that changing of privacy restrictions in posts wasn’t a guarantee that Guevarra’s posts were limited to his “Facebook friends.” SC also rejected Guevarra’s defense that his remarks were written in the exercise of his freedom of speech and expression.
SC warned Guevarra that a repetition of similar acts shall be dealt with more severely.
