NBI won’t file case vs. Rappler over cyber libel complaint

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will not file a cyber libel case against online news site Rappler in relation to a cybcerime complaint by a businessman being linked to human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Citing the NBI's Cybercrime Division, a report on 24 Oras said businessman Wilfredo Keng failed to file his complaint — over a Rappler report which included information that painted him unfavorably — within a year of the story's publication.

The crime of libel prescribes in one year.

Keng, who has yet to respond to this development, filed his complaint against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos, Jr., and Dolphin Fire owner Benjamin Bitanga.

Dolphin Fire has shares in Rappler Holdings, Inc.

His complaint was over a Rappler story titled "CJ using SUVs of 'controversial' businessmen," which cites an intelligence report that links him to "human trafficking and drug smuggling."

The story was first published in 2012 and updated in 2014.

In a counter-affidavit, Ressa argued that the one-year prescription period for libel had expired by the time the businessman lodged his complaint.

Santos, meanwhile, said the Cybercrime Law of 2012 was enacted four months after the news site published the report about Keng.

Unless otherwise stated, the retroactive application of a law is prohibited, according to Article 4 of the New Civil Code.

In a statement, Rappler thanked the NBI for its findings, maintaining that it was clear in its defense that it did not commit a crime as the Cybercrime Law was enacted after the story's publication.

"In addition, the one-year prescription period even for the old crime of libel had already lapsed when Mr. Keng filed the complaint in December 2017. We sought his side when we first published the story, thus there was no malice," it said.

The news site, which publishes reports critical of the administration, has also had its incorporation papers revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged foreign ownership.

More recently, Rappler's Malacañang reporter has been banned from the Palace compound and barred from covering President Rodrigo Duterte and his activities. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/MDM, GMA News