G.R. No. L‑2704
December 6 1906

FACTS
– A complaint filed 15 Mar 1904 by Manuel Fernandez Yanson alleged that the weekly La Revista Católica (Feb 6 1904, No. 27) published a libelous article under the pen‑name “Flagelo,” calling Yanson a “coward, vile soul, dirt‑sucker, savage….”
– The accused were Federico Ortiz (director), José González Paramos (printer‑owner), Francisco Benavent (manager), Juan Llorente, and Anastasio Montes (editor‑in‑chief).
– The trial court convicted Ortiz and Paramos, fining each ₱200 and ordering costs; Benavent was acquitted; Llorente’s charge was withdrawn and Montes died before trial.
– The defendants appealed, claiming no malicious intent and disputing liability of a printer.

ISSUE
Whether, under Act No. 277 (1901), the director and the printer of a newspaper can be held criminally liable for libel published in the paper, even if they are not the author, when the defamatory statements are directed at Manuel Fernandez Yanson.

RULING
– The Court affirmed the convictions.
– Section 6 of Act 277 makes any author, editor, or proprietor of a publication liable “as if he were the author” of the libelous words.
– Section 5 requires only that the accused knowingly placed the libel in the custody of the publication, exposing it to public reading; actual readership is unnecessary.
– Ortiz, as director, had the duty to know the contents and thereby incurred liability.
– Paramos, as printer and holder of the publication’s immediate custody, is equally liable as a publisher.
– The defendants failed to prove the absence of malicious intent required by Section 4, so the libel stands.
– The subsidiary imprisonment provision was struck down because Act 277 authorizes only a fine, not imprisonment.

Disposition: Convictions and fines of ₱200 each against Federico Ortiz and José González Paramos upheld; subsidiary imprisonment vacated; costs awarded to the United States.