The Quezon City Office of the Prosecutor has dismissed the cyber libel complaint filed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV against former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Harry Roque, citing insufficient evidence.
In a resolution dated October 9, 2024, Assistant City Prosecutor Darlene Oani found no probable cause to charge Roque, effectively junking Trillanes’ claims that the lawyer made “derogatory statements” against him in a Facebook post on his verified personal account.
Roque shared the dismissal resolution on his social media page and reiterated the statement that sparked the complaint: “Hey Trililing, excuse me, the Philippines did not lose even an inch of territory during President Duterte’s term. And I reminded him that we lost territory during the time of President Noynoy Aquino, when he (Trillanes) was appointed as a special envoy without the Senate’s permission, even though he was a sitting senator at the time.”
“I thank the public prosecutors for applying the law on libel correctly,” Roque said following the dismissal.
Trillanes, however, downplayed the development, saying it was premature for Roque—who is currently seeking asylum in the Netherlands—to claim victory. “He can’t even come home yet. Anyway, we will still be filing a motion for reconsideration today,” he said in a statement.
The legal spat between the two political figures stems from longstanding tensions, with Roque, a known ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, often clashing with Trillanes, a vocal critic of the previous administration.
Legal observers say the dismissal reflects the strict threshold for proving cyber libel in the Philippines, which requires not only proof of defamatory content but also actual malice when public figures are involved.