Roque: Ressa, Santos can apply for probation over conviction to avoid jail time

Journalist and Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. should consider applying for probation over their cyber libel conviction to avoid jail time, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday.

Roque was referring to the cyber libel conviction of Ressa and Santos in connection with the Rappler story published in May 2012 linking businessman Wilfredo Keng to human trafficking and drug smuggling. The cybercrime law took effect four months after the story was published.

“I caution Maria Ressa and Mr. Santos. Their penalty is subject to probation. Walang kulong ‘yan. If they want, they can just apply for probation and they can be scot free,” Roque told CNN-Philippines in an interview.

“But when they appeal and they lose their appeal, they will serve time,” Roque added.

In convicting Ressa and Santos, the Manila Regional Trial Court sided with the prosecution’s argument that the story was republished in 2014, albeit to correct a typographical error, and as such, the story is covered by cybercrime law.

The complaint against Ressa and Santos was also first filed by Keng in 2017 or five years since the story in question was published. Keng’s complaint was initially junked by the National Bureau of Investigation only to be later approved by the Justice Department which filed the charge against Ressa and Santos in February 2019.

Under Article 3, Section 22 of the 1987 Constitution, “no ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.”

Roque, however, argued that the prescriptive period for a libel case, which is one year, cannot be applied to cyber libel.

“Given the nature of the internet, unless it (story) is removed, there is a view that it continues to be published, and therefore, the prescriptive period should be reckoned on the day that it continues to be seen on the internet,” Roque said.

Ressa and Santos were sentenced to spend six months to six years in jail as a result of their conviction but were granted bail pending their appeal.

Rappler has stood by its story on Keng, and Ressa has argued that their source of documents linking Keng to illegal activities was different to the certification that Keng secured from the government instrumentality Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that he is not involved in illegal activities. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News