{"id":258087,"date":"2020-06-15T07:44:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T11:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258087"},"modified":"2020-06-15T07:44:55","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T11:44:55","slug":"prrd-never-filed-libel-case-against-any-journalist-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/15\/prrd-never-filed-libel-case-against-any-journalist-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD never filed libel case against any journalist: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte holds a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on May 25, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Saying President Rodrigo Roa Duterte values press freedom, Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday said the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) to convict Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former researcher-writer Rey Santos Jr. of cyber libel should be respected.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said despite Ressa and Santos\u2019 guilty verdict, Duterte never filed a libel complaint against journalists publishing critical reports about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNi minsan hindi po siya naghain na kahit anong kaso ng<\/em>\u00a0libel\u00a0laban sa kahit kaninong nabu-buwisit siyang mga peryodista. Naniniwala po siya sa malayang pag-iisip at pananalita at ang paninindigan niya, ang taong gobyerno hindi dapat<\/em>\u00a0onion-skinned (Not once did he file a libel complaint against any journalist who got on his nerves. He believes in free thinking, free speech, and he believes that government officials should not be onion-skinned),\u201d he said in a virtual presser.<\/p>\n

Roque said Duterte once supported Davao-based broadcaster Alexander Adonis who was convicted of libel and imprisoned in 2007 for reading on air a tabloid article about then House Speaker Prospero Nograles\u2019 alleged extramarital encounter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatapos pong nakulong si<\/em>\u00a0Adonis,\u00a0patuloy pong nagbigay ng suporta ang<\/em>\u00a0Presidente kay<\/em>\u00a0Alexander Adonis\u00a0at nagbigay din po siya ng<\/em>\u00a0material support (After Adonis was jailed, the President continued to give him support),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former Bombo Radyo broadcaster previously questioned the compatibility of libel with freedom of expression before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). Roque then served as his lawyer.<\/p>\n

The UNCHR eventually ruled that Adonis\u2019 rights were violated and that defamation laws should not \u201cstifle freedom of expression\u201d.<\/p>\n

Roque also dismissed as \u201cwithout basis\u201d Ressa\u2019s claim that her conviction is a \u201ccautionary tale\u201d meant to strike fear, stressing that supporting Adonis was enough proof that Duterte supported the right to free expression and free press.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala pong basehan iyan<\/em>\u00a0(That has no basis), she is barking at the wrong tree.\u00a0Sinuportahan po ni Presidente si<\/em>\u00a0Alexander Adonis\u00a0noong siya ay nagpunta sa<\/em>\u00a0UN Human Rights Committee.\u00a0Ano pa po ang kinakailangang ebidensiya na isa sa pinakamalakas na<\/em>\u00a0supporter\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0freedom of expression\u00a0at<\/em>\u00a0freedom of the press\u00a0ay ang Presidente<\/em>\u00a0(The President supported Alexander Adonis when we went to the UNCHR. What other evidence do you need to prove that the President is the biggest supporter of freedom of expression and freedom of the press)?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the complainant, businessman Wilfred Keng, is a private individual which means that there is a presumption that the report published in Rappler is malicious.<\/p>\n

\u201cDahil<\/em>\u00a0private\u00a0po ang<\/em>\u00a0complainant (Because the complainant is a private individual), the court gave it credence and applied the presumption that any malicious imputation is in fact malicious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque also pointed out that it was during the administration of former President Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III when cyber libel was pushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po Presidente ang nasa likod sa panunupil diumano ng kalayaan nang malayang pananalita at pamamahayag. Iyan po ay desisyon ng ating Korte Suprema sa panahon pa ni Presidente<\/em>\u00a0Noynoy Aquino (The President is not behind efforts to curtail free speech and free press. That is the decision of the Supreme Court during the term of President Noynoy Aquino),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Manila RTC Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa sentenced Ressa and Santos to imprisonment ranging from six months and one day to six years.<\/p>\n

Ressa and Santos were ordered to pay Keng PHP400,000 in moral and exemplary damages.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Keng filed cyber libel charges against the two for naming him in a 2012 report as having lent his sports utility vehicle for the use of then Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was then facing impeachment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayroon pa naman pong pagkakataon si<\/em>\u00a0Maria Ressa\u00a0na umapila; habang siya po ay umaapila, hindi naman po siya makukulong<\/em>\u00a0(Maria Ressa still has a chance to appeal; while appealing her case, she will not be jailed),\u201d Roque said. \u201cWe wish her the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Saying President Rodrigo Roa Duterte values press freedom, Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday said the decision of the Manila Regional Trial …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":256072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258090,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258087\/revisions\/258090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}