SolGen Sides with Maria Ressa — Recommends Acquittal sa Cyber Libel Case

In a major turn of events that could reshape press freedom in the Philippines, Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe has officially recommended the acquittal of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. in their long-running cyber libel case. The manifestation, filed with the Supreme Court on March 10, marks a dramatic shift from the government’s previous stance.

The OSG invoked its role as ‘the People’s Tribune’ in making the recommendation, arguing that businessman Wilfredo Keng filed his cyber libel complaint after the prescription period had already lapsed. This aligns with the Supreme Court’s own ruling in the Causing v. People case from October 2023, which clarified that cyber libel prescribes in just one year under the Revised Penal Code — not 12 or 15 years as previously argued.

Ressa and Santos were convicted by a Manila court in June 2020 during the Duterte administration. The Court of Appeals denied their appeal in 2022, and the case has since been elevated to the Supreme Court. The original conviction was widely seen as a blow to press freedom, drawing international condemnation.

The Solicitor General acknowledged that her office was departing from the position taken by the original trial prosecution, pero emphasized that the duty to uphold the law takes precedence. ‘The Solicitor General must always uphold the law, even when doing so requires it to depart from the position earlier advanced by the trial prosecution,’ the OSG stated.

If the Supreme Court follows the recommendation, it would finally close a chapter that has defined the intersection of media, politics, and the law in the Philippines for years. The decision now rests with the justices. Source: Rappler