The good news is for the private citizen who filed
a cyber libel case against Rappler’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a former
researcher it’s justice well deserved for the three years of wait.
Finally businessman Wilfredo Keng has cleaned his
name on the issue of him doing illegal activities in his trade.
Bad news is that the opposition is making a giant
noise about this saying Freedom of the Press has been curtailed when clearly
this is just a normal course of justice.
 |
| Rappler's Maria Ressa and Businessman Wilfredo Keng (photo credit to owner) |
Filipino journalist and media practitioners are not
being attacked, but they are being sued for their accountability in slandering
private persons.
Our laws are clear on this issue, do not mislead
the public.
Wilfredo Keng has a lot to be thanked for and he
has won for those who have been slandered by media whose family’s reputation
has been besmirched.
Below is the full quote of the statement of Keng that
was given to press people.
When
I filed this private complaint more than three years ago, I knew that this was
going to be a long and painful process for me and my family. Still, I vowed to
see this case to the very end.This is my bid to protect my name, and my
sacrifice for my children and our future generations, who deserve nothing less
than freedom in the form of absolute truth.
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.Even today,
when the truth should have set me free, Rappler’s lies still resound after the
bang of the gavel has faded away.I have been a private, hardworking businessman
for 37 years now. I started out in the humblest of beginnings, a young man
selling my wares on a few feet of space in the banketas of Manila.
Alam
ko ang pakiramdam ng walang ni isang yaman kundi ang magandang pangalan, kaya
pinagsikapan kong panatilihin itong malinis sa loob ng halos apat na dekada. It
is the same name I have handed down to my children, ang aking pinakamahalagang
pamana sa kanila. It is also the very same name which Ressa, with one click of
a button, attempted to destroy.
Not
today, Ressa.
Motivated
by the sheer conviction that I have done nothing to deserve the false
accusations against me, I decided to go on my quest for justice even if it
meant going up against Rappler, a powerful and well-funded media entity with a
global reach, headed by one of Time Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Women
in the World” – Maria Ressa herself.
Ressa
portrays herself as an alleged defender of press freedom and as a purported
target of the Philippine Government, but this in no way exempts her from respecting
and following Philippine laws. If anything, being a public figure, mas malaki
ang kaniyang responsibilidad na magsabi ng totoo at sumunod sa batas.
As I
have proven in the course of the trial, I have never been investigated or
summoned for, much less charged with or convicted of, any wrongdoing or illegal
act by any law enforcement agency whether here or abroad. Ressa has never
disputed this, but has simply attempted to hide behind a technical plea: na sa
kabila ng kanilang kasinungalingan, hindi na ako maaring magreklamo dahil
lumipas na ang panahon kung kailan ko dapat isampa ito. Justly, this attempt
has failed.
Ressa
then dares to publicly connect my private suit to an alleged governmental
attack on the Philippine Free Press.
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. 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. To repeat, it has been more than
3 years. Had the government been, as Ressa falsely claims, connected with my
private suit, maaring matagal nang natapos ang kaso na ito.
This
is NOT a fight against the Press Freedom, an institution I deeply respect and
uphold. For years, I have personally suffered from Rappler’s false accusations
against me, which false accusations have no place in a responsible and free
press. Indeed, it is an accepted legal principle that libel is not protected
speech.My filing AND winning this case assures Filipinos that published
falsehoods will not remain unchallenged and unchecked in this jurisdiction but
will instead be dealt with by law, strengthening the people’s respect for the
Philippine Media in the years to come.
Bukod
sa pagkaso laban sa mga kasinungalingan at libelo ni Ressa noong 2012 at noong
2014, I have filed another complaint against Ressa for yet another libelous act
before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Makati, which I hope to likewise
see to its lawful and just fruition.
It is
of public record: My counsel had pleaded and begged with Rappler and Ressa to
correct their false public accusations that I am a criminal, or at the very
least, to publish my side.
They
refused.
They
have denied me my right to clear my name. Where else can I go to seek
justiceand protection but our courts?
And so
I did.
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