Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Instagram
MANILA — The Office of the City Prosecutor of Makati City dismissed the cyberlibel, cyber unjust vexation and gender-based online sexual harassment complaints filed by actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith against lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
In a joint resolution on the three complaints dated July 1, 2026, Assistant City Prosecutor Eilleen Abigail Piñera recommended the dismissal of the complaints for lack of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.
According to Piñera, the evidence was insufficient to show that Topacio’s acts were done in a manner that “terrorized” or intimidated Curtis-Smith or that they were calculated to harm her reputation.
“At most, the allegations remain unsubstantiated, as complainant failed to present competent proof demonstrating how respondent's specific actuations crossed the threshold from mere offensiveness or disagreement into conduct intended or likely to cause the kind of mental, emotional, or psychological distress and reputational injury contemplated by the law on gender-based online sexual harassment,” Piñera said.
In her complaint, Curtis-Smith stated that last March 5, 2026, Topacio made derogatory statements against her in his radio program.
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The statements were made following the controversial remarks of Quezon City Fourth District Rep. Bong Suntay against Curtis-Smith’s sister Anne Curtis.
The statements cited in the complaint included the following.
- "Yung kapatid, bumanat pa, si Jasmine Curtis, parang binabastos daw 'yung kapatid niya, hindi daw tama…”
- “Kayong mga artista ha, 'yung mga ganyan... Ikaw Jasmine, bakit ka nagpo-post ng mga bikini picture mo sa social media, sa mga pahayagan? Hindi ba para ikaw ay pagnasahan? Para ikaw ay sumikat?”
In his counter-affidavit, Topacio denied the accusations and maintained that his comments had a “political genesis” in the context of an “ongoing political war” involving Vice President Sara Duterte and the present administration.
In the resolution, Piñera said that under the doctrine of fair comment, a discreditable imputation against a public person is not necessarily actionable.
She further stated that for an imputation to be actionable, it should be a false allegation of fact.
“Accordingly, even if the declarations against complainant may have been offensive or harsh in tone, they are not actionable by themselves when made as commentary on a matter of public interest involving a public figure, absent required showing of actual malice,” Piñera said.
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