Manila court dismisses cyber libel case vs Maria Ressa, reporter

A Manila court has dismissed the cyber libel case against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and one of her reporters who wrote an article about a university official who allegedly took bribes from thesis students.

Theodore Te, counsel for Ressa and Rappler reporter Rambo Talabong, said the complainant Ariel Pineda submitted an affidavit of desistance, which he affirmed during the hearing at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 24 on Tuesday.

“Mr. Pineda stated that the filing of the case arose out of a misappreciation of facts and that he was no longer interested in pursuing the case against both Mr. Talabong and Ms. Ressa,” Te said in a statement on Thursday.

Ressa described the dismissal of the charges as a “temporary relief.”

“Another criminal case against me and our reporter has been dropped. It's a temporary relief, but the ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against me and Rappler continues,” she said.

Te added: “That the case was even filed against both Mr. Talabong and Ms. Ressa at the level of the investigating prosecutor however spotlights the danger to press freedom and freedom of expression that criminal cyber libel poses.”

“Perhaps it may be time to consider seriously taking a second look at the Cybercrime Protection Act of 2012 particularly its provisions on cyber libel as a crime,” he said.

Prosecutors had accused Ressa and Talabong of ruining the reputation of a program chairperson at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (CSB) who allegedly accepted bribes from thesis students.

In his report published in January 2020, Talabong wrote about students in CSB's Export Management Program allegedly paying P20,000 to pass their class. The students in Talabong's article said they paid Pineda, who was the thesis coordinator, through a middleman.

Pineda did not respond to the allegations in the Rappler article despite repeated requests for comment, according to the report.

In a separate case, a court in Manila convicted Ressa of cyber libel a year ago over a Rappler story in 2012 that reported businessman Wilfredo Keng’s supposed links to illegal activities.

Ressa and Reynaldo Santos, Jr., the author of the article, moved for the reconsideration of the trial court's decision but the court stood by its ruling, prompting them to challenge their convictions before the Court of Appeals.

Keng, meanwhile, withdrew his second cyber libel case against Ressa last May.—AOL, GMA News