Spin gone wild Rappler head Maria Ressa becomes the center of a media frenzy over cyber libel which is not an ordeal exclusive to her but is the bane of most news organizations. It was spun mostly by opponents of President Rodrigo Duterte as an “assault on press freedom.” AP

February 15th, 12:04am February 14th, 11:06pm Kristina Maralit

The complainant in the cyber libel case which resulted in the arrest of Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa last Wednesday said there was no effort from the online news agency to obtain his side on a published story which alleged that he owned a vehicle that was used by the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona who was ousted by an impeachment court.

Rappler was remiss in getting my side “on the crimes they wrongly imputed to me or to fact-check their baseless attacks against my name,” said businessman Willie Keng.

“I tried to formally and informally communicate with Rappler in order to have the said article taken down, clear my name and restore my reputation, at least, to the extent possible given the fact that irreparable damage had already been done, multiplied a million-fold because Rappler’s website continues to be accessible by the whole world,” Keng explained.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), “as the central repository and chief administrator of the country’s criminal history records, would never have found in my favor and filed the complaint against Rappler, along with its concerned officers and reporter, for cyberlibel concerning defamatory imputation of crime if I had any criminal record or history in their files,” he added.

Malacañang backed Keng’s statement, saying the case against Ressa was not based on any violation of press freedom, but that the court found probable cause on a crime, “that’s why she is now being charged.”

“Regardless of who commits any irregularity or crime, he or she will be charged in accordance with the law. The charge is facts-based and the DoJ (Department of Justice) prosecutors gave her all the opportunity to defend herself and it found out there is probable cause and even the court agrees with it,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“Since the 1980s, I have never been investigated by or summoned before any law enforcement agency in connection with any alleged criminal act, much less have I been indicted, arrested, detained or convicted of any crime in the Philippines,” Keng said.

Rappler Inc., the news site which Ressa heads, said in a statement NBI agents served the warrant late Wednesday afternoon making it difficult to apply for bail.

“We are not intimidated. No amount of legal cases, black propaganda and lies can silence Filipino journalists who continue to hold the line,” Ressa said in a statement. “These legal acrobatics show how far the government will go to silence journalists, including the pettiness of forcing me to spend the night in jail,” she added.

Keng, however, said in a statement of the many virtues guarded by democratic nations, “justice and protection against libelous speech may well be the most difficult to attain.”

He cited the unfortunate reality that necessary legal machinery may be inaccessible to many and that “technology and modernity have so drastically changed the information highway such that information-sharing has become virtually and instantaneously boundless, both global in reach and perpetual in duration.”

“Now, more than ever, democratic freedoms such as those of speech and of the press must all the more be vigilantly balanced against the standards of responsible exercise and accountability, as well as the dictates of conscience, justice and the truth, lest they serve to oppress rather than liberate the citizens whose lives they are meant to enhance,” he added.

“I am deeply grateful that after the conduct of a lengthy, careful and meticulous investigation, the Department of Justice has categorically resolved to criminally charge the accused with cyberlibel in court because of their publication of clearly defamatory statements against me through their online news platform, the penalty for which crime is imprisonment for a minimum of four years, two months and one day to a maximum of eight years,” he said.

“I was left with no other choice but to file a case and seek protection from our courts. To date, the perpetrators have not once denied having published clear defamations against me but simply continue to hide behind a single claim that unfortunately for me, I allegedly can no longer complain,” he said.

“What is their motive? With one click of a button, they destroyed my reputation and endangered my life,” Keng said.

He also disputed the report that the complaint was dismissed by the NBI which he said was a clear attempt to mislead the public.

“Knowing absolutely well that it is the National Bureau of Investigation itself which filed the complaint for cyber libel against Rappler, Ressa, Santos and other named individuals before the Department of Justice. Rappler’s inaccurate, nay reckless, reports and statements continue to be quoted by other news outfits, thereby perpetuating the clearly incorrect version of the said story,” the businessman said.

“Such reckless, premature and inaccurate reporting on official government processes reek of actual malice and cyber bullying and border on the intentional propagation of fake news,” he added.

Keng’s lawyer said the businessman was not connected with the Duterte administration in any way.

“That has no basis. We are not involved with the administration or the government. It (complaint) is completely private,” Keng’s counsel Joseph Banguis said.

“They are making a fuss about anything they perceive to be wrong. You know a warrant of arrest can be issued on a weekday. The only prohibition is you issue it on a weekend and that will not give the respondent the opportunity to file a motion for or to file bail,” Panelo said.

Instead of pointing to Mr. Duterte as the moving force behind Ressa’s legal battle, Panelo advised her to “just focus on her defense.”

“Ms. Ressa should, in fact, welcome this as an opportunity to defend herself and be heard before the court 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,” he expressed.

“Whatever the outcome is, it must be respected by everyone for such is the law. This is how the rule of law works,” the official added.