Philippines: Second hearing for the journalist Maria Ressa’s cyber liber conviction takes place

December 16, 2019, Manila, Philippines -- Second hearing for one of the most prominent Filipino journalists and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s cyber libel case took place today. 

Maria was arrested on February 13, 2019 by the NBI over already groundless claims of cyber libel. On May 14, 2019, she was called to court again at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 49 on counts of cyber libel. Manila Court initiated the case on July 23, 2019. Further down the process, Manila RTC Branch 46 allowed Maria and Rappler to seek an outright dismissal of the conviction on October 8, 2019. In the recent past of the Philippines, unprecedented numbers of journalists have been jailed or forced to flee, with self-censorship being commonplace. Moreover, impunity for the killings, harassment, attacks and threats against independent journalism has been running at epidemic levels. Considering Maria’s truthful journalism that exposes political lies and challenges the status quo in the country, it is not a surprise that Rappler gets attacked from various sides. However, this is very telling in that the Philippines has rather alarming issues over press freedom.

During the hearing, complainant Wilfredo Keng's lawyer asked Rappler’s investigative head Chay Hofileña what the source for the intelligence report cited in one of their news stories in 2012 was. The report in question is linked to Wilfredo’s illegal activities, namely human trafficking and drug smuggling. In response, Rappler counsel Ted Te called attention to the Sotto law that reserves journalists’ right to keep their sources confidential. The law, however, also states that this rule can be broken if such information is demanded by the security officials of the State. 

Manila RTC Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio Montesa agreed that the Sotto law conserves Rappler’s right not to give publicity to the source of its confidential information. Nonetheless, the judge did ask if Rappler verified the intelligence report with other sources. In response, Rappler investigative head Chay explained that there had been several other sources and previous reports at hand. She also added that Maria was not at all involved in the story, pointing out that the CEO does not exercise unilateral editorial control in the newsroom. 'Maria gets vetoed because we are a democratic organization.' she further noted. Following the discussions, the court has not finalized the case with a concrete decision yet. Thus, Maria is still free on bail. 

Outside the courtroom, Maria said to the news reporters: "I can go to jail for 12 years for this (case), that is the maximum sentence," after the hearing. She continued with: "From track record you can see the political goals to shut Rappler up... but we haven't shut up yet".

The Coalition for Women in Journalism stands in solidarity with Maria Ressa. We see this case as a horrible attempt to curb Rappler’s critical coverages, and silence press freedom. We call on the authorities to drop all charges against Maria Ressa and respect freedoms pertaining to right to information.