Roque to Ressa: Just face the decision

Manila, June 16 - Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Rappler CEO Maria Ressa should face the guilty verdict handed to her by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46.

“In law, as what we say, one’s freedom ends where someone else’s rights begin. Thus, I advise Ms. Ressa to just face the complaint/decision head-on,” Roque said.

The spokesman emphasized that Ressa transgressed the law when she maligned the reputation of a private individual.

“The private individual who Ms. Ressa besmirched simply exercised his right against abusive persons who wield power and influence, including journalists like Maria Ressa,” Roque said.

He however said that Ressa’s sentiments are understandable given her present state of mind as a result of the guilty verdict handed her.

“Ms. Ressa can speak and say whatever she wants against the current administration. It is her right. It is her freedom of expression. It goes to show that there is no stifling of free speech in the country and that democracy in the Philippines remains vibrant,” he added.

Ressa and former Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. were found guilty of cyber-libel on Monday.

In a 2012 Rappler article, Santos linked businessman Wilfredo Keng to human trafficking and drug smuggling. 

Keng filed the libel suit against Ressa and Santos in 2017. 

In a press statement, Keng emphasized that Rappler denied hin his right to clear his name. “It is of public record: My counsel had pleaded and begged with Rappler to correct their false public accusations that I am a criminal, or at the very least, to publish my side. They refused, " he said.