Wilfredo Keng feels ‘vindicated’ by Ressa cyber libel conviction

Wilfredo Keng, the businessman who initiated a cyber libel complaint against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr., on Monday said he was "vindicated" by their conviction.

"Today, with the judgment of conviction against Ressa and Santos promulgated by the Hon. Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa, I have been vindicated, at least, to the extent possible considering that the damage had already been done," Keng said in a statement.

"Even today, when the truth should have set me free, Rappler’s lies still resound after the bang of the gavel has faded away," he added.

Keng filed the cyber libel complaint in 2017, five years after Rappler originally published an article that cited an "intelligence report" linking him to criminal activities.

Reports initially said the National Bureau of Investigation would not pursue a case against the journalists, but the bureau ended up filing the complaint before prosecutors, who eventually indicted Ressa, Santos, and Rappler Inc. last year.

After less than a year of trial, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 found Ressa and Santos guilty of cyber libel, sentencing them to up to six years in jail in what critics said was a blow to press freedom. Rappler as a company was found to have no liability.

The court also ordered Ressa and Santos to pay Keng P400,000 in damages.

In his statement, Keng said he has been a "hardworking businessman for 37 years now" and that he has sought to keep his name clear of any wrongdoing.

He said he proved during trial that he had not been investigated, summoned, charged, or convicted of any illegal act in the Philippines and abroad.

"This case is not a case of the government. I am a private citizen and this is a private suit. I filed my complaint prior to and independently of any case the Philippine Government may have filed against Ressa," Keng said.

"Unlike Ressa, who attended hearings but who refused to take the witness stand, I testified in open court because I believe that I am telling the truth. I went through all stages of the legal process with no shortcuts or exemptions," he said.

Keng also claimed that his case was not a fight against press freedom.

He added that he had also filed another complaint against Ressa "for yet another libelous act" in the Makati prosecutor's office.

In convicting Ressa and Santos, the judge considered an "updated" version of the article, which Rappler said merely corrected a typographical error, as a "republication" of the story.

The article was originally published in 2012, before the anti-cybercrime law was enacted, and then updated in 2014.

The judge also said the offense of cyber libel had not prescribed by the time the case was filed in 2019. In ordinary libel, one can be sued only within one year of the publication, but in this case, the court said the prescriptive period is 12 years.

Rappler said the decision sets a "dangerous precedent not only for journalists but for everyone online." — DVM, GMA News