THE camp of lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, said on Thursday the notice on the cyber libel complaint against veteran journalist Philip Lustre Jr. was delivered to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, his last-known professional address.
It added that under Rule IV, Section 10(e) of the 2024 Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service Rules, the notice can be delivered to the respondent’s last-known professional address when his residence cannot be established.
It said articles published by the Inquirer identifying Lustre as their author provided an objective basis for associating him with the newspaper’s business address.
”Where the respondent’s residential address cannot be ascertained despite diligent efforts, the complainant may reasonably rely on a publicly ascertainable professional address supported by verifiable information connecting the respondent to that location,” Carpio’s camp said in a statement.
The 72-year-old Lustre, author of the book “Kill, Kill, Kill,” about the bloody drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested at Dapo Restaurant while attending the Saturday News Forum hosted by fellow journalists on Oct. 28. He was released on P48,000 bail on the same day.
Lustre’s lawyer, Dino de Leon, earlier questioned whether the journalist had been deprived of due process because he was not notified of the complaint before the warrant was issued.
The case stemmed from a March 2026 Facebook post that allegedly linked Carpio to a P300-million payment involving 18 self-described former Marines who claimed to have acted as bagmen in a flood control kickback scheme.
In relation to Lustre’s case, the opposition-led August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) on Thursday called for the decriminalization of cyber libel in the country.
”We, the August Twenty-One Movement, are adding our voice to the calls to decriminalize cyber libel in our country. Instead, let us further define and strengthen our civil case laws against those who will abuse their freedom of expression, especially if it leads to the destruction of democracies,” ATOM said.
