Rappler’s chief executive and executive editor Maria Ressa was released from detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after she posted bail of P100,000.
Ressa posted the bail bond at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 on Thursday morning, February 14.
Speaking to the reporters after posting bail, the journalist said staying at the NBI made her “think about what this is all about.”
“For me it is about two things: abuse of power and weaponization of the law,” Ressa told the media.
“This isn’t just about me, and it’s not just about Rappler. The message that the government is sending is very clear. And someone actually told our reporter just last night: ‘Be silent or you’re next.’ So I’m saying and I’m appealing to you not to be silent even if, and especially if, you’re next,” she added.
The Rappler’s chief was detained overnight after a Pasay City night court judge refused to process her bail. According to Ressa’s lawyer, JJ Disni, the judge expressed “some concern,” saying that he may not have the “jurisdiction” as a Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) judge because Ressa’s case is handled by an RTC.
Agents of the NBI, early Wednesday, went to Rappler headquarters to serve an arrest warrant, issued by Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa, to Ressa in connection with a cyber libel complaint lodged against her.
The case stemmed from a complaint by businessman Wilfredo Keng in 2017 over the May 2012 Rappler article titled “CJ using SUVs of ‘controversial’ businessmen.” The article, written by former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos, Jr., identified Keng as the owner of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) which was supposedly used by former Chief Justice Renato Corona who was then under an impeachment trial.
Rappler earlier reported that it was not the alleged ownership of the vehicle that Keng complained about, but the “backgrounder on him as having alleged links to illegal drugs and human trafficking, based on intelligence reports.”
Keng has asked the news site to take down the story, but Rappler, instead, updated the article in 2014.
Ressa’s arrest was condemned by various organizations, several government officials, and the public, describing the move as an attack on press freedom.
Malacañang, however, stressed that the arrest has “nothing to do with freedom of expression or freedom of the press.”
“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 Spokesperson Salvador Panelo told ANC.
Aside from the cyber liber complaint, Ressa also faces five tax evasion cases.