MANILA, Philipppines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Rappler CEO Maria Ressa has filed an amendment brief to her case before the Supreme Court in which she is appealing the decision of the lower courts to convict her of cyber libel.

The Court of Appeals in its October 10 decision upheld its earlier ruling that affirmed a lower court’s conviction, and added eight months to her six-year jail sentence.

Ressa and former Rappler researcher and writer Reynaldo Santos were convicted in June 2020 in a cyber libel case brought by a businessman over an online article in 2012 by Rappler that linked him to illegal activities.

In the amendment brief filed by her lawyers, Ressa claimed that her online new source, Rappler, is a satirical site and as such is protected by the universal principle of free speech.

Ressa’s claim boomerangs on an earlier article published by Rappler, saying that The Adobo Chronicles is NOT satire and borders more on “fake news.”

(Read the Rappler article HERE.)

Moral of the story: Be careful what you say or publish. It may come back and hit you!