Wilfredo Keng camp confident in libel case vs. Ressa

The camp of Wilfredo Keng, the complainant who filed a cyber libel case against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, remained confident that they would win their case days ahead of Monday's verdict.

"We have faith that justice will be served. The reputation of our client Wilfredo Keng will be vindicated," Attorney Melisas Andaya, the counsel for Keng, said in a Saturday statement.

The case stemmed from Keng's complaint over a Rappler story that supposedly linked him to human trafficking as well as drug smuggling in May 2012.

"We have shown that there is no evidence linking him to the drugs and murder allegations mentioned in the defamatory online article," Andaya said.

Ressa, the CEO of the news organization which has repeatedly been the target of President Rodrigo Duterte's ire, has argued that the libel charge is a ploy to intimidate government critics.

Andaya, however, said that the case was about accountability.

"[T[his should serve as a lesson that no one is above the law. Everyone should be more judicious and circumspect before making accusations, especially when the reputation of a private individual is involved," she said. — DVM, GMA News