July 23, 2019, Manila, Philippines -- First hearing of the trial against Rappler CEO-journalist Maria Ressa and former researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr for cyber libel case was held today.

The case is concerning an article written by Reynaldo Santos and published on Rappler in 2012 linking the former chief justice Renato Corona to the complainant Wilfredo Keng. Maria was arrested on February 13, 2019 by the NBI over already groundless claims of cyber libel due to the said article. On May 14, 2019, she was called to court again at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 49 on counts of cyber libel. This is not the first time that Rappler and its staff face groundless legal accusations. In fact, this is only one case among 11 government investigations and court cases against Rappler and its staff. All the charges together may lead up to 100 years of prison penalty for Maria. It is worth mentioning that the Philippines has been reported as the most dangerous country in Southeast Asia for journalists by The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Globally, the island nation came sixth on the list of most murderous countries. In the country, unprecedented numbers of journalists have been jailed or forced to flee, self-censorship has been widespread and impunity for the killings, harassment, attacks and threats against independent journalism has been running at epidemic levels.

The witnesses present at the hearing were bank manager Marcelino Malonzo and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) forensics chief Cristopher Paz. While Marcelino claimed to have read the article himself, Cristopher testified that the article is published on the Rappler’s website.

At the hearing, Rappler lawyer Ted Te stated that someone had to prove that Wilfredo who is the subject of the article was defamed. He further pointed out that the only way to prove such a defamation would be to have someone else than Wilfredo himself. Ted Te asked for further witness statements to prove the defamation claims, if they so happen to be true. However, to which extent the witnesses’ claims can be reliable and objective seems questionable.

Among seven witnesses, Wilfredo’s lawyer Joseph Banguis listed two Rappler journalists – editor Marites Vitug and former researcher-writer Katerina Francisco – as well. Furthermore, the lawyer called attention to the complainant’s prior requests to take down the article, claiming they have witnesses to that. Rappler lawyer Ted Te requested from the prosecution to send subpoenas from the court and get the journalists in question to take the stand. Moreover, he suggested that investigative head Chay Hofileña be the first witness on Rapplers’ side. ‘We also plan to present an expert witness on the cyber liber, as our argument has been anchored on the bounds of law’ Ted added.

The complaint against Maria was made in 2017, five years after the publication of the article in 2012. In the case of an ordinary libel case, this would pertain to a time-out of the complaint. However, the DOJ extended 1 year for ordinary libel to 12 years for cyber libel, to be able to charge Ressa and Reynaldo. Cyber lawyer and Reppler counsel JJ Disini said this interpretation of the cybercrime law could create a grave impact on constitutionally-protected rights. 

The Coalition for Women in Journalism demands the authorities to promptly drop the case against Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos. We strongly condemn this wrongful treatment that is a direct attack against press freedom.