The Manila Regional Trial Court granted the motion filed by Rappler Chief Executive Officer Maria Ressa to move for the dismissal of the cyber libel charges filed against her and the news website due to insufficient evidence.
Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 gave Ressa 10 days to submit a demurrer to evidence.
A demurrer to evidence, when granted by the court, would result in the dismissal of the case halfway through the trial and eventual acquittal of the accused based on insufficiency of prosecution evidence.
Also included in the case is former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr.
“The only ground really is that they haven’t proven their case, that’s the only ground,” Rappler’s lawyer, former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te, told reporters.
The cyber libel charge stemmed from a complaint of a businessman named Wilfredo Keng, who was the subject of a 2012 Rappler article titled “CJ using SUVs of a controversial businessman,” written by Santos.
After the parties submit their pleadings, the court will deem it submitted for resolution.
If the demurrer of Rappler is denied, they will start presenting their evidence on December 6.
The article wrote that then Chief Justice Renato Corona was using a 2011 Chevrolet Subarban which was found registered to Keng whom Santos described as “shady” and involved in human trafficking and drug smuggling.
The Rappler executive also faces five cases of tax evasion before the Court of Tax Appeals and the Pasig RTC.
Ressa claimed that the cases against her and her company are political persecution over their coverage of the Duterte administration, but the Palace has repeatedly distanced itself from the cases against them.