00:00The Office of the Solicitor General files a manifestation with the Supreme Court recommending
00:05the acquittal of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Reza and former Rappler
00:09researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. in their Duterte Times cyber libel case. Solicitor General Darlene
00:15Marie Berberabe tells the court the case was filed after the prescription period for libel
00:20had already lapsed. The Causing case decided by the SE 3rd Division stated, the prescription
00:26period for cyber libel is only one year and not 12 years. The OSG says its recommendation for
00:32acquittal does not dilute the state's legitimate interest in punishing cyber libel but simply
00:37gives effect to the temporal limitation fixed by law. The OSG says it quote, cannot shirk from its
00:43duty to present to the court a position that in its considered judgment best serves the government
00:48and the people consistent with its responsibility to share in the task of dispensing justice.
00:53The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 convicted Reza and Santos of cyber libel in June 2020 under
01:00then-President Rodrigo Duterte's administration over a cyber libel complaint filed by businessman
01:05Wilfredo King. The Court of Appeals denied Reza and Santos' appeal in 2022 prompting them to bring the case
01:11to the SE.
Comments