News Roundup 15 June 2020
Jun 15, 2020 • 3 min Read
Fresh cybercrime ruling highlights old problem of criminal libel | PHILSTAR.COM – When the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, striking down some provisions but leaving the cyber libel untouched, journalists and media advocates warned that this casts a wider net to penalize opinions posted online. Although “updated” to take the internet to account, media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility said in 2014 that, “libel as provided for in the [Revised Penal Code] … remains today as problematic as it has been for over 80 years to press freedom and free expression, and in addition has become an even bigger constraint on free expression when committed online.” Five years later, state prosecutors cited the very same provision of the law to haul veteran journalist Maria Ressa and Rappler’s former researcher Reyanldo Santos Jr. to court. It only took eight months for Manila Regional Court Branch 46 to rule on the government’s case: On June 15, 2020, the court held Ressa and Santos guilty beyond reasonable doubt of cyber libel, or defamation done online.
348 fresh COVID-19 cases bring total to 26,420 | INNQUIRER.NET – The Department of Health (DOH) was able to record 348 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infected patients in the country to 26,420. According to DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, there were 142 other cases that were reported late, which means that the total coronavirus infections increase by 490 from Sunday’s 25,930. Deaths due to COVID-19 went up by 10, from 1,088 to 1,098 — two of which died last June 1, and another last June 11. Meanwhile, 298 more patients recovered, for a total of 6,252.
Manila court convicts Ressa, former Rappler researcher of cyber libel | Manila Bulletin – A Manila court found Rappler chief Maria Ressa and her co-defendant, former researcher Reynaldo Santos, Jr., guilty of cyber libel. Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio Montesa sentenced them to serve an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment ranging from a minimum of six months and one day to a maximum of six years. Ressa and Santos were also ordered to pay businessman Wilfredo Keng P200,000 in moral damages and P200,000 in exemplary damages. Rappler, Inc., however, was absolved of corporate liability. “The right to free speech and freedom of the press cannot and should not be used as a shield against accountability,” Montesa said in her 37-page decision. Rappler counsel Ted Te said the Court allowed the accused to remain free for now after they each posted a P100,000-bail on February 14, 2019. He also said that they were given a 15-day period to decide on whether they will file an appeal.
PH death ratio higher than Asean average | The Manila Times – The Philippines’ death toll from the coronavirus disease might have dropped, but the country’s case fatality rate (CFR) was higher than the fatality average in the Southeast Asian region, the Department of Health (DoH) said on Sunday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s CFR — the ratio of deaths from total number of infection — is around 4 percent, lower than the global average of 5.6 percent. However, it is higher than the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) average of around 3 percent.
