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Palace to US: Court made right decision in Maria Ressa’s cyber libel case

By VIRGIL LOPEZ,GMA News

Malacañang on Wednesday supported the decision of a Manila court that convicted Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and a former employee of cyber libel after the United States expressed concern over the verdict.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the decision only showed that the judicial system in the Philippines is working.

“Gumagana po ang ating mga institusyon dito, at tama po ang desisyon ng ating hukuman,” Roque, a lawyer, said in an interview with state-run PTV.

“Ako po ay maninindigan bilang officer of the court, dedepensahan ko po ang hukuman na gumawa ng desisyon na 'yan. Kasalanan n’yo po na you had bad journalism and bad legal defense kaya kayo ay na-convict.”

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar added the ruling was “not an attack on press freedom nor on freedom of speech, but an adherence to the rule of law and due process prescribed in our democratic constitution.”

US State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus earlier said the US “calls for resolution of the case in a way that reinforces the US and Philippines’ long shared commitment to freedom of expression, including for members of the press.”

Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. were convicted of cyber libel on Monday in the first court decision on a string of criminal cases filed against the online news site and its leader.

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The two were sentenced to six months and one day to up to six years in jail, but they remain free after being granted post-conviction bail.

Government prosecutors indicted Ressa, Santos, and Rappler for cyber libel in January 2019 over an article published by the news site in 2012 that cites an “intelligence report” linking businessman Wilfredo Keng to human trafficking and drug smuggling.

In its decision, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 said the defendants did not verify the “intelligence report” supposedly linking Keng to human trafficking and drug smuggling. It also said that neither Ressa nor Santos took the witness stand.

It also ruled the prescriptive period for cyber libel is 12 years, which means one could file a case within 12 years from publication of the allegedly libelous article. Rappler had claimed the prescriptive period was just one year. 

Ressa has since described her conviction as a “pivotal moment” for democracy and a free press.

“This is a pivotal moment for the Philippines, and a pivotal moment not just for our democracy but for the idea of what a free press means," she said shortly after the verdict was handed down. — RSJ, GMA News