Marilyn Cahatol

Rappler CEO and journalist Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. during a press conference after receiving a guilty verdict on cyber libel by the Manila Regional Trial Court on June 15, 2020. Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177312247272320200615-maria-ressa-guilty-verdict-jvc-9819.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Rappler CEO and journalist Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. during a press conference after receiving a guilty verdict on cyber libel by the Manila Regional Trial Court on June 15, 2020. <em>Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Office of the Solicitor General has recommended the acquittal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr. in the cyberlibel case filed against them.</p><p>In a news release, the OSG said it made the recommendation in a Manifestation and Motion filed with the Supreme Court on March 9, 2026.</p><p>The OSG argued that the filing of a cyberlibel case against Ressa and Santos in 2019 for an article republished in 2014 was already time-barred.</p><p>The OSG said it relied on the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Berteni Cataluña Causing v. People which shortened the prescription for cyber libel offenses to one year.</p><p>&quot;In Causing, the Supreme Court re-examined the interplay of the cybercrime statute and the Revised Penal Code’s provisions on prescription. The Court adopted a limiting principle that fixes a definite, predictable period, reckoned from discovery by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents,&quot; the news release read. </p><p>&quot;The Court held that cyber libel prescribes in one year, consistent with Articles 90 and 91 of the Revised Penal Code,&quot; the OSG added.</p><p>The cyber libel charged stemmed from a May 2012 article, which linked a businessman to the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was then facing an impeachment trial.</p><p>The 2012 article was then republished in 2014 to correct a typographical error, and a cyberlibel case was filed in 2019.</p><p>Santos was found liable as author of the article and Ressa as then-executive editor of Rappler. Ressa has since given up the post.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/14/20/how-correcting-a-typo-got-maria-into-trouble-the-cyberlibel-case-vs-rappler">How correcting a typo got Maria into trouble: The cyberlibel case vs Rappler</a></div><p>In 2022, Ressa and Santos <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/07/08/22/ressa-loses-appeal-of-cyber-libel-conviction">lost their appeal </a>against a conviction for cyber libel at the Court of Appeals.</p><p>&quot;The OSG however underscored that cyber libel is not protected speech. Its penal sanction under existing law remains important, particularly in the digital environment where reputational injury, invasions of privacy, and harm to dignity may be amplified in reach and velocity,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;The OSG reaffirmed the government’s respect for the independence of the Judiciary and emphasized that it will abide by the Supreme Court’s final disposition of the case,&quot; it added. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/09/12/23/nobel-winner-maria-ressa-acquitted-of-tax-evasion-court">Nobel winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion: court</a></div><p>Santos said the OSG recommendation was &quot;certainly a welcome development.&quot; </p><p>&quot;[I am] still looking forward to what&#x27;s next, but now with higher hopes,&quot; he said. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BSRPOLJnlQs?si=WPEUM3-9s-htAoFh" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>The Office of the Solicitor General has recommended the acquittal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr. in the cyberlibel case filed against them.</p>

The Office of the Solicitor General has recommended the acquittal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr. in the cyberlibel case filed against them.

OSG recommends acquittal of Ressa, Santos in cyberlibel case

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OSG recommends acquittal of Ressa, Santos in cyberlibel case

Jervis Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 10, 2026 02:07 PM PHT

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Updated March 10, 2026 04:38 PM PHT

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Rey Santos Jr

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