Maria Ressa’s cyber libel trial begins

A Manila court on Tuesday morning started Rappler CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa's trial for cyber libel in connection with an article the news site published in 2012.

The prosecution presented its first two witnesses, Marcelino Malonzo, who testified to having read the allegedly libelous article, and National Bureau of Investigation special agent Christopher Paz, who was supposed to confirm the earlier admitted fact that the article in question was published by Rappler.

Ressa and a former reporter, Reynaldo Santos Jr., face charges for a story that cited an "intelligence report" reportedly saying that businessman Wilfredo Keng had been under surveillance for human trafficking and drug smuggling. Originally published in 2012, the article was updated in 2014 to correct what Rappler said was a typographical error.

The prosecution said it intends to present former NBI cybercrime division chief Manuel Eduarte as a witness in the next hearing on July 30.

Keng's lawyer, Joseph Banguis, said Eduarte may testify on the NBI's findings from its hearings on Keng's cyber libel complaint, which the businessman first filed before the bureau before agents transmitted it to the Department of Justice (DOJ). It was the DOJ that indicted Ressa and Santos earlier this year.

It was reported in February 2018 that the NBI would not pursue the case because Keng failed to file his complaint within a year of the story's publication. A week later, the bureau transmitted its findings to the DOJ for preliminary investigation.

Asked if Eduarte will testify on the apparent case revival, Banguis said "it depends on what the questioning will be in the next hearing."

Ressa's lawyer, Theodore Te, also said whether or not he would ask about it would depend on what the prosecution will offer. "I will only hear why they want to present that witness on the day itself. I wouldn't want to second guess the prosecution on what they want to do," Te told reporters.

Meanwhile, Banguis said another matter to be discussed in the hearings is Keng's request for Rappler to take down the article.

Banguis said they will call Keng to the witness stand if needed. The prosecution has listed seven witnesses. — RSJ, GMA News