The Office of the Solicitor General has recommended the acquittal of Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. in their cyberlibel case against businessman Wilfredo Keng. The recommendation is based on a Supreme Court ruling that the prescription period for cyber libel is one year. The motion was filed with the Supreme Court in March 2026.
On March 10, 2026, the Office of the Solicitor General (SolGen) announced its recommendation for the acquittal of Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, and Reynaldo Santos Jr., a former Rappler researcher, in the cyberlibel case filed against them by businessman Wilfredo Keng. The SolGen stated that the charges were filed beyond the one-year prescription period, as clarified by the Supreme Court in Berteni Causing v. People in October 2023.
The 2012 Rappler article linked Keng to former Chief Justice Renato Corona. Keng discovered it in 2016, but filed the complaint in 2018 and the case in February 2019. Thus, the one-year prescription period had expired in 2017, according to the SolGen.
On June 15, 2020, a Manila Regional Trial Court convicted them of cyber libel, imposing a sentence of six months to six years in prison and P400,000 in damages each. The Court of Appeals denied their appeal in October 2022, leading them to file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court in 2022.
The SolGen noted that it now accepts the Causing decision, which clarified that cyber libel is not a new offense but governed by the Revised Penal Code with a one-year prescription from the discovery of the offense. However, the SolGen emphasized that this does not make cyber libel protected speech, and penalties remain important to safeguard reputation, privacy, and dignity.
"Although the OSG previously sought reconsideration in Causing, it manifested... that the government now accepts the Court’s decision," the SolGen stated. It also referenced amicus curiae submissions from UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan, highlighting the need for clear limiting principles in cyber libel prosecutions, especially in matters of public interest.
