(Eagle News) — The National Bureau of Investigation has filed a cyber-libel complaint against Rappler in connection with an article it published in 2012.
Included in the complaint filed before the Department of Justice on March 2 were Reynaldo Santos, writer; Maria Ressa, Rappler editor in chief; and Rappler directors Manuel Ayala, Nico Jose Nolledo, Glenda Gloria, James Bitanga, Felicia Atienza, Dan Alber de Padua and Jose Maria Hofilena.
The complaint stems from the article written by Santos that alleged that Keng lent his sport utility vehicle to then-Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was facing an impeachment trial at that time.
The report detailed what it said was Keng’s shady past, citing what Rappler claimed was an intelligence report.
Keng admitted to owning a vehicle with plate number ZWK 111, but denied, based on Land Transportation Office documents, that it was the one used by Corona in 2011.
In their defense, Ressa and Santos said in their counter-affidavits previously submitted to the NBI that Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code provides for libel to be extinguished “by prescription” in one year.
They also argued they could not be prosecuted for cyber-libel because at the time the “alleged libelous article” was published, the Cybercrime Prevention Act was “not yet in effect.”
Rappler is appealing a Securities and Exchange Commission decision that revoked its business license on the grounds it violated constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership of media.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue also sued Rappler for tax evasion on Thursday.