Ressa should have been allowed to post bail, says former journo Manicad
MANILA, Philippines — Like any other accused, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa should have been treated fairly, former broadcast journalist and senatorial aspirant Jiggy Manicad said Thursday.
Ressa was arrested on Wednesday evening for a cyberlibel case, which stemmed from an article about a businessman published in May 2012.
Agents from the National Bureau of Investigation arrested the Rappler CEO after office hours, preventing her from making bail.
"As a former police beat reporter, we know that there should be courts handling proceedings at night, in the case of Maria, she should have been given a chance to avail of legal remedies such as posting bail," Manicad said in Filipino in a text message.
According to Rappler, a Pasay night court judge refused to accept the bail of Ressa despite having the authority to do so under Rule 114 section 17 of the Rules of Court.
Ressa had to spend the night at the conference room of the NBI Cybercrime Division in Manila.
Manicad called on the Department of Justice to review its procedures following the arrest of the Rappler chief.
"The treatment should be fair among all those who are accused. The DOJ should review their procedures in relation to this," Manicad said.
A few weeks ago, Manicad insisted that press freedom in the country is not under attack and that legal action against Rappler was an isolated case.
In an earlier interview with ONE News' "The Chiefs," the senatorial bet said the government has basis for filing charges against the online news site.
"Now, because of that handling, someone got angry and ordered an investigation, does it really translate to an attack on press freedom? How come in other networks, it’s not like that?” Manicad said in Filipino. — with a report from James Relativo/Pilipino STAR Ngayon
Palace answers questions on barring of Rappler reporter Pia Ranada from entering Malacañan New Executive Building to cover. It was later clarified that Ranada is allowed to enter the New Executive Building but not Malacañan, where the president's events are held.
Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa was acquitted Tuesday of her final tax evasion charge, in the latest legal victory for the veteran journalist as she battles to stay out of prison.
Ressa, 59, smiled as the judge delivered the verdict in the years-long case, an AFP journalist inside the court room said.
Philippine Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa and her online media company Rappler were on Wednesday acquitted of all four charges of tax evasion filed against her, a court says.
Ressa, who won the Nobel along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, still faces three other criminal cases, including a cyber libel conviction now under appeal that could mean nearly seven years in prison.
"Today, facts win. Truth wins," a defiant Ressa told reporters outside the Manila courtroom shortly after the court ruled on government charges that she and Rappler dodged taxes in a 2015 bond sale to foreign investors.
"These charges were politically motivated," Ressa said Wednesday. "We were able to prove that Rappler is not a tax evader." — AFP
The Court of Appeals has stood firm in its ruling that earlier denied the appeal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. to overturn a Manila court’s conviction of cyber libel against them.
“Wherefore, the motion for reconsideration is denied,” the CA’s Fourth Division says in a ruling promulgated October 10.
Ressa and Santos sought for the reconsideration of the same CA court decision dated July 7, 2022 that affirmed the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46’s ruling that found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of cyber libel.
State-run Philippine News Agency reports that the Court of Appeals has junked the appeal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and its former researcher Reynaldo Santos to overturn the cyber libel conviction rendered by a Manila court in June 2020.
Independent news site Bulatlat.com condemns the SEC ruling that upheld its 2018 decision to shutdown of news company Rappler Inc.
In a statement, it says: "It is alarming how laws are weaponized to muzzle independent media. Administrative orders and other regulatory powers of government, such as franchise in the case of ABS-CBN, should not be used to trample upon press freedom and free expression."
Bulatlat, whose website has been blocked by the NTC following NSA Esperon's request, calls on fellow journalists "to resist the attacks, and unite in defending and upholding press freedom and the public's right to know."
Below is Bulatlat's statement condemning the SEC shutdown order vs. Rappler. pic.twitter.com/gJhuerHhfp
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) June 29, 2022
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