The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Tuesday said it recommended to the Supreme Court the acquittal of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and journalist Reynaldo Santos in the cyberlibel complaint filed against them.
In its Manifestation and Motion filed Monday, the OSG said the filing of the complaint has already prescribed.
“In its filing, the OSG relied on the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Berteni Cataluña Causing v. People, which shortened the prescription period for cyberlibel offenses to one year,” the OSG said.
Applying this doctrine, the filing of the criminal information against Ressa and Santos in early 2019 for an article republished in 2014 and discovered by the complainant in 2016 is time-barred, it added.
The Causing case was decided in October 2023 and published in January 2024.
The Supreme Court ruled that cyberlibel prescribes in one year, consistent with provisions of the Revised Penal Code.
However, the OSG stressed that cyberlibel is not protected speech and that its penal sanction under existing law remains important.
