THE Court of Appeal has acquitted a newspaper publisher and a journalist of libel in connection with a story that president Corazon Aquino hid under the bed during a 1987 coup attempt.
In a 54-page decision, Associate Judge Jose de la Rama said the statement was fair comment on a public event and was made without actual malice.
The case gained international notoriety because Mrs Aquino was the first head of state to file libel charges against a journalist.
She also became the first Philippine president to stand witness in a criminal trial when she gave evidence against the accused - publisher Maximo Soliven and columnist Luis Beltran - on live national television and radio in February, 1991.
On the day the Beltran allegations were published, an angry Mrs Aquino took journalists to her bedroom in Malacanang Palace to demonstrate there was no way she could have hidden under the bed, which had wooden side panels.
Mrs Aquino said the allegation, which appeared in Luis Beltran's 'Straight from the Shoulder' column in the October 12, 1987 issue of the Star, undermined her role as president and commander in chief at a time when the country was still politically and economically unstable.