MANILA – A Manila City regional trial court (RTC) has upheld its earlier ruling convicting online news website Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. for cyber libel.
Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montessa of Manila City RTC Branch 46 over the weekend dismissed the motion for partial reconsideration filed by Ressa and Santos for “lack of merit.”
During their motion, Ressa and Santos cited 13 errors committed by Judge Montesa in her verdict, including defining updating a story as republication, and the consideration of complainant Wilfredo Keng as a private citizen.
Montessa, however, stressed that “discussion has been exhaustively made and no new matters were raised” regarding the issues on republication, the liability and non-representation of the accused, and the damages suffered by “private complainant Wilfredo Keng.”
“It is notable that both accused are raising the public figure defense for the first time During trial, no evidence was adduced by the defense to show that the status of Keng falls within the definition of a public figure,” the court said.
“The Supreme Court has already established that libel is not constitutionally protected speech and that the government has an obligation to protect private individuals from defamation,” it added.
The cyber libel case against Ressa stemmed from a complaint by Keng in 2017 over a Rappler story five years earlier about his alleged ties to a then-Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona.
Based on the news report of the Rappler researcher Santos Jr., Keng has allegedly lend his black Chevrolet Suburban to Corona, who was then facing an impeachment complaint.
Rappler reported that the SUV, which bore the plate number ZWK 111, was registered under Keng at the Land Transportation Office. While Keng admitted ZWK 111 was his, he said that he doesn’t own the SUV Corona had been using./PN
