Recto wishes Ressa's cyber libel conviction overturned

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Wednesday expressed support to Rappler CEO Maria Ressa who recently got convicted for cyber libel.

"I wish Maria Ressa victory on her appeal and hope that her conviction will be overturned. That is also the clarity the nation wants to see in the application and interpretation of a law with ambiguities and frightening consequences on our freedom," Recto said in a statement.

While acknowledging that it is the duty of the media to "redress the grievances" of those affected by inaccurate reporting, he said "a nation can withstand an occasional reckless press, but it cannot survive with a repressed one."

On Monday, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 found Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. guilty of cyber libel over a 2012 article linking businessman and private complainant Wilfredo Keng to human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Keng said he was "vindicated" by verdict.

Rappler, on the other hand, described the guilty verdict as a "failure of justice and democracy" that "sets a dangerous precedent not only for journalists but for everyone online."

Meanwhile, Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa, who handed down the ruling, said the court decision did not curtail the right to freedom of speech and of the press.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson said Ressa's conviction can still be appealed in higher courts. —LBG, GMA news