There is "actual malice" or malice in fact when the offender makes the defamatory statement with

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the knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. The reckless
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disregard standard used here requires a high degree of awareness of probable falsity. There must
be sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the accused in fact entertained serious doubts as
to the truth of the statement he published. Gross or even extreme negligence is not sufficient to
establish actual malice.43

The prosecution bears the burden of proving the presence of actual malice in instances where such
element is required to establish guilt. The defense of absence of actual malice, even when the
statement turns out to be false, is available where the offended party is a public official or a public
figure, as in the cases of Vasquez (a barangay official) and Borjal (the Executive Director, First
National Conference on Land Transportation). Since the penal code and implicitly, the cybercrime
law, mainly target libel against private persons, the Court recognizes that these laws imply a stricter
standard of "malice" to convict the author of a defamatory statement where the offended party is a
public figure. Societys interest and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion
of public affairs.