MANILA - The Court of Appeals (CA) has again affirmed a lower court's ruling finding Ang Dating Daan (ADD) head Eliseo "Eli" Soriano guilty of libel in a case filed against him by a fellow preacher.

In a seven-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, the appellate court's 12th Division denied Soriano's motion for reconsideration (MR) which sought a reversal of the CA's August 17, 2015 ruling.

The CA affirmed the consolidated judgment dated June 8, 2012 of the Iriga City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 60 in two criminal cases for libel filed by Jesus Miracle Crusade's preacher Wilde Almeda.

The complaint alleged that Soriano uttered malicious or libelous comments and accusations over the radio on Almeda's preaching in Iriga City and Baao, Camarines Sur.

In standing pat on its earlier ruling, the appellate court said it "already made an exhausive discussion regarding the presence of all the elements of the crime of libel defined under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code."

"We rule that the instant motion cannot prosper on said grounds as the same were mere reiterations of the arguments which were already contained in the various pleadings submitted before the court and were already considered in arriving at our decision dated August 17, 2015," the CA, in its latest decision, said.