(Eagle News)–The Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, Feb. 14, denied the arrest of Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa for cyber libel was an attack on press freedom.
“Aysusmaryosep. Far from it,” Duterte said when told some international organizations were saying this.
According to Duterte, he did not know Ressa had been arrested.
He said he did not even know the details, nor did he know Wilfredo Keng, the private complainant in the cyber libel case against Ressa, Rappler Inc., and former reporter Reynaldo Santos.
“For you to say ‘What can you say?’ I cannot say anything. I have yet to read. Someone asked that onstage a while ago but same answer. I cannot give you an opinion or say anything,” Duterte said.
Keng’s charges stem from a 2012 article published by the online news outfit that he said defamed him.
The article, which described him as a “controversial” businessman with supposed links to human trafficking, illegal drugs and murder, was edited in 2014.
In ruling there was probable cause for the cyber libel charges against Ressa, Rappler Inc. and Santos, the Philippines’ Department of Justice debunked their arguments the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which guards against libel in cyberspace, could no longer apply.
The DOJ said that while the August 2012 publication was not covered by the law enacted only in September of that year, the 2014 editing was covered by the same, based on the “multiple publication rule” put forward by the Philippines’ Supreme Court in a previous ruling that says that modification and alteration of an article translates to a separate offense from the publication itself of the article, if such is libelous.
The DOJ also denied Ressa, Rappler and Santos could no longer be charged because the one-year prescriptive period for libel had expired.
The DOJ said in the first place, the three have been charged with cyber libel, which, according to the Cybercrime Prevention Act itself, has a punishment of a degree higher than libel.
Based on Republic Act 3326 that governs special laws such as cyber libel, the DOJ said the prescriptive period of such is 12 years.
Ressa was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
She has said her arrest was an affront to press freedom, and has called on the government to uphold the rule of law.
The Palace said Ressa was arrested because the government was already upholding the rule of law.
“We are a country of laws and every citizen must adhere to the rule of law. No one is above the law, not even high-profile self-anointed crusading journalists,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.