Panelo to Ressa: Blame your lawyers
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 16:36:27 +0000
MALACAÑANG on Friday said Rappler Chief Executive Officer Maria Ressa should blame her “incompetent” lawyers instead of the government for her overnight detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for cyberlibel.
In a news briefing, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said that Ressa should “woman up” and face the charges against her.
“Stop blaming anyone for the unpreparedness of your lawyers. There is absolutely nothing to do with the freedom of expression. Now you say there’s an abuse of power. Excuse me, Maria, abuse of power? You are the one abusing your power as a journalist,” the Palace official said.
Panelo stressed that the government was merely observing the rule of law.
“She says that there has been irregularity in the filing of the case, as well as she’s harassed. Let me tell you, Maria, that the case filed against you was in accordance with the law. This is not a case of freedom of expression as you claimed. It is a case of one man…asserting his right under the law for a perceived violation of his right,” Panelo said.
Just a ‘typo’
Ressa was arrested by NBI agents at the Rappler office in Pasig City. It stemmed from a revived complaint by businessman Wifredo Keng, over what he dubbed as a “malicious” story written by one of Rappler’s researchers and posted on May 29, 2012.
The article, titled “CJ using SUVs of ‘controversial’ businessmen,” which claimed that Keng owned the sport utility vehicle that the late Chief Justice Renato Corona used during his impeachment trial, was written by ex-researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr.
Ressa said her arrest was part of the administration’s continuing harassment of Rappler over its critical reporting. She was granted temporary liberty after posting a P100,000 bond.
JJ Disini, Ressa’s lawyer, said they would file a motion to quash the charge sheet filed by the Justice department. The lawyer argued that the case was unconstitutional
because cyberlibel did not exist at the time, as the Cybercrime Prevention Act was enacted in September of 2012.
The other “questionable” claim by the Department of Justice — which was that the article was “republished” in 2014, making it “libelous” under the Cybercrime Prevention
Act — was “wrong” because the changes were minor or mere typographical errors, said Disini.
This was echoed by Ressa, who said the change involved capitalizing a word.
Keng cries foul
On Thursday, February 14, Duterte distanced himself from Ressa’s arrest and insisted that it was not an attack on media.
He said he did not know Keng and what prompted the businessman to file the case.
This was echoed by Keng, who said in a statement on Friday that the resurrected complaint was a “personal fight” and a “private criminal action” and not “black propaganda” nor an attack on press freedom.
“They falsely place me against the side of press freedom. They posture all such cases, including mine, as alleged concerted silencing maneuvers by the government, Keng said.
“Much worse, they further demean my efforts to seek just and equitable judicial relief as ‘preposterous and baseless,’ as a possible ‘attempt to intimidate,’ as ‘black propaganda,’ and [this is what makes me cry foul],” added Keng.
Also on Friday, Panelo slammed foreign officials, international media groups, journalists and rights advocates for supporting Ressa, calling them “ignorant.”
“The support obviously is coming from those who have been either ignorant of the facts or misinformed of the facts,” Panelo told reporters.
The post Panelo to Ressa: Blame your lawyers appeared first on The Manila Times Online.