Gossip columnist Lolis Solis is in over her head, and she deserves to be punished!

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Solis says there was ‘no malice’ when she wrote about actors Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby in her Take It, Take It column for Pilipino Star Ngayon. Pascual and Milby filed a PHP12M libel lawsuit last year against the gossip columnist for the title of the column, which read “Piolo at Sam, huling huling naglalampungan” (’Piolo and Sam, caught romancing each other” according to the PDI translation), as well as the content of the column, which detailed Solis’ alleged spotting of the two acting “sweet” at the Sofitel Hotel poolside around 4 p.m. of Oct. 12.

She claims her column was neither libelous nor malicious, and says Pascual and Milby are “hypersensitive.” Her lawyer, Margarita Briones Lasam, claims Solis “was just describing what she saw. She says her column wasn’t defamatory, and she never referred to the singers as “gay or homosexuals.”

In their lawsuit, Pascual and Milby claim the five elements of libel - it was defamatory, made publicly, malicious, directed at a natural or juridicial person, and tends to cause dishonor, discredit or contempt of the person/s defamed - were present in the column. They call it an outright lie, because they claim they were not at the Sofitel Hotel on the date and time Solis claimed they were.

Solis is grasping at straws. The very nature of the column is malicious in nature. Because she knows the public is interested in Pascual and Milby relationship stories, she wrote a column with clear intent to fuel the fire. Her choice of words - naglalampungan, a very strong Filipino word to describe displays of lusty affection that border on ‘torrid’ - were clearly intended to tell the reader that Pascual and Milby were doing more than just hanging out at poolside. There are many other Filipino words one can use to describe friends together - tambay being the most obvious - but the choice of naglalampungan, over even naglalambingan, a much milder term, clearly shows Solis had malicious intent.

Further content in the column were clearly intended to portray Milby and Pascual’s relationship as something more than platonic. Though she did not directly call them gay, she used words like “kakaiba (different),” “sweet,” and “halos magkadikit na nga ang mga pisngi (their cheeks were almost touching).” If Milby and Pascual were not at the Sofitel on the date and time she claims they were, then she is caught in an obvious lie. If they were, she is still guilty of exaggerating the facts and, in fact, making a case for libel by her choice of words.

Lolit Solis is getting what she deserves for clearly going against the will of God. Note what the Bible says about what she does for a living:

Leviticus 19:16 – “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.” (NIV)

Proverbs 11:13 – “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” (NIV)

Romans 1:29 – “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips.” (NIV)

1 Timothy 5:13 – “Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.” (NIV)

Gossip columnists make a living off inventing and exaggerating information for a bloodthirsty public. The gossip industry is a multi-million dollar industry, and what do we have to show for it? Nervous breakdowns and countless lawsuits for invasion of privacy and libel. From Britney to Paris, Lindsay to Cory Aquino (remember the ‘hide under the bed’ fiasco with Louie Beltran, people in the private eye are suffering.

Celebrities may lose a certain amount of privacy by virtue of their being celebrities, but they should be entitled to a certain amount of privacy. Their being celebrities does not not entitle gossip columnists (and paparazzi) to invade their lives and exaggerate/lie just to sell magazines and newspapers.

I believe Lolit Solis had every intention to slander Piolo and Sam. That she won’t retract her column is not necessarily proof of truth; it is proof of an unrepentant liar who is unwilling to admit that she is willing to make information up just to cause controversy and slander two respected entertainers. She must pay the full price of her folly.

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