Arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa: ‘A shameless act of persecution’

By JOEY P. NACALABAN
Correspondent .

FORMER Cagayan de Oro Press Club presidents and lawyers here yesterday frowned over Wednesday’s arrest of Rappler chief executive officer and executive editor Maria Ressa, warning that the cyber libel case against the prominent journalist could set a bad precedent and hurt the free press in the country.

Ressa’s arrest was a “frontal attack” on press freedom and the lawsuit against Rappler is “purely a harassment case,” said former COPC president Eduardo Montalvan.

He said the case is meant to send a message to the critical media to keep silent or else.

Montalvan said Rappler is known to be critical of the Duterte administration “busa, obviously, mao nang nahitabo gidakop siya.”

The case against Rappler stemmed from a May 2012 news story posted online four months before the enactment of the cyber liber law. The complaint was filed by businessman Willam Keng on Oct. 11, 2017, seven years after the story was published, and his affidavit was filed in Jan. 10, 2018.

Ressa bailed out yesterday for P100 thousand.

Montalvan warned that the Rappler case could have serious repercussions on the practice of Philippine journalism, adding that if something like this can be done against a very prominent media outfit, there is no reason that this cannnot be done against the less prominent ones.

Msgr. Elmer Abacahin, another former Cagayan de Oro Press Club president, said Rappler was merely doing its job as a watchdog.

“Pero nganong siya ra man pud ang gisumbong. Siya ra ba diay ang media nga critical sa Malacañang?” he asked rhetorically, adding that what was done to Ressa was “a very clear form of persecution.”

Abacahin said politicians and those in power should not be onionskinned and understand that it is the work of journalists to report.

Former vice mayor and lawyer Antonio Soriano, chairman of the group Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance, said what was done to Ressa was a “no-no” and a form of “political persecution.”

“It is as if it’s a warning to media people not to be critical or else, they would suffer the consequences,” Soriano said.

Another lawyer, James Judith, questioned the basis of the arrest, adding that to him, it was nothing but “an obvious attempt to weaponize the law and in prostituting it” in an effort to silence media.

“This sets a very dangerous precedent. Truth be told, I don’t know how this is gonna play out in the end,” Judith said.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) deemed the arrest of Ressa as “shameless act of persecution by a bully government.”

The NUJP slammed the DOJ for charging Ressa on an offense allegedly committed even before the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 was actually enacted.

“This government, led by a man who has proven averse to criticism and dissent, now proves it will go to ridiculous lengths to forcibly silence a critical media and stifle free expression and thought,” NUJP said.

“It is clear this is part of the administration’s obsession to shut Rappler down and intimidate the rest of the independent Philippine media into toeing the lines,” it added.

The NUJP stood with Maria Ressa and Rappler on this issue and urged other media practitioners to resist the “blatant assault” on their right and liberties.

“We call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to stand with the independent Philippine press in defense of the rights not only of media but of the people. For in suppressing the press it is the people’s right to know that is trampled on.”

Rappler in a statement, found the filing of case against Ressa as ”preposterous and baseless.” Rappler clarified that they reached out to Mr. Keng and got his side before the said story was published.

“The filing of the case is preposterous and baseless. No less than NBI Cybercrime Division chief Manuel Eduarte closed an investigation in February 2018 after finding no basis to proceed, given that the one-year prescriptive period had lapsed. Eight days later, however, the NBI revived the case, and filed it with the Department of Justice on the basis of a theory they call “continuous publication,” Rappler explained.  (with reports from davaotoday.com)