Philippines: PEN International welcomes recommendation to acquit journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa in cyber libel case
‘Maria Ressa has shown extraordinary courage in defending independent journalism in the Philippines. The recommendation by the Solicitor General is a significant step toward correcting a case that has long raised serious concerns about press freedom. The Supreme Court should seize this opportunity to overturn the conviction and reaffirm the fundamental importance of free expression’, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.
16 March 2026: PEN International welcomes the recommendation by the Philippines’ Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that the Supreme Court acquit journalist, writer, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and her former colleague of cyber libel charges. The recommendation, submitted on 9 March 2026, recognises that the case was filed after the legal prescription period had already lapsed, meaning the prosecution is time-barred under Philippine law.
This charge was the only active case remaining against Ressa. Since her initial arrest on 13 February 2019, Ressa and the independent news platform Rappler, which she co-founded, have faced a string of 23 legal cases, including charges of cyber libel, tax evasion, and alleged violations of foreign ownership restrictions. With this decision by the OSG, it appears that she may no longer have to endure this campaign of judicial harassment.
The case stems from a 2012 article published by Rappler. In June 2020, a Manila court convicted Ressa and a former colleague at Rappler of cyber libel under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, following a complaint filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng. The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals in July 2022 and carried a potential sentence of up to six years’ imprisonment. Ressa has remained free on bail while appealing the decision before the Supreme Court.
In its submission, the OSG cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Berteni Causing v. People of the Philippines, which clarified that cyber libel cases must be filed within one year of discovery of the alleged offence. Because the complaint against Ressa was filed in 2017, several years after the article was first published and reportedly discovered by Keng, the OSG concluded that the case should be dismissed.
PEN International has long expressed concern about the use of cyber libel laws and other legal measures to target journalists in the Philippines. The organisation reiterates its call for the Supreme Court to overturn the conviction of Maria Ressa and urges the Philippine authorities to ensure that criminal laws are not misused to intimidate journalists or restrict legitimate reporting on matters of public interest.
PEN International will continue to monitor developments in the case and stands in solidarity with Maria Ressa and with writers and journalists across the Philippines working to write freely and without fear.
Background
Maria Ressa, born on 2 October 1963, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her efforts to ‘safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace’. Since 2018, she has faced a sustained campaign of legal harassment linked to her reporting, including investigations exposing government corruption and the human cost of former president Rodrigo Duterte's ‘war on drugs’, which resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings.
In addition to founding Rappler, Ressa is the author of two books on the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia—Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center (2011) and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism (2013).
Note to editors:
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