ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship The conviction of Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos dismissal closely follows the withdrawal of Wilfredo brought into sharp relief the myriad human rights Keng’s second cyber lawsuit just 2 months before. concerns arising from the Act. Among those concerns is the fact that Wilfredo Keng filed the case in 2017, almost five years following the publication of the original article and way beyond the one-year statute of limitations for libel under the RPC. The Cybercrime Act, conversely, is silent on the statute of limitations for this offence. In response to such a problem, the Department of Justice used Republic Act No. 3326 to extend the RPC libel statute of limitations from one to 12 years. This means that libel suits can be filed by any person within 12 years of the publication of an alleged libellous material. According to Atty. Marnie Tonson of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance (PIFA), since the Cybercrime Act was passed after the publication of the article in the Rappler case, the change in statute of limitations should not extend to that case. The National Bureau of Investigation, however, claimed that the article is subject to the theory of “continuous publication,” which assumed that Wilfredo Keng discovered the story about him only after the law had been passed.35 The conviction against Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos was upheld on appeal in July 2022. The Court of Appeals additionally sentenced both to longer sentences, adding eight months and 20 days.36 On top of the multiple spurious charges against Maria Ressa, both Ressa and Rappler have also been facing targeted tax evasion charges since a case was filed by the Duterte administration in 2018. However, in a consequential legal victory on Sept. 12, 2023, both were acquitted of the charges, ending four years and 10 months of the trial.40 The weaponisation of tax evasion laws is one of the common tactics used by authoritative governments to crackdown on activists and dissidents, and suppressing freedom of expression. “ These ridiculous cases remind us all of the importance of independent journalism holding power to account. 41 In February 2020, Wilfredo Keng filed a second cyber libel lawsuit against Maria Ressa over a social media post she had made earlier that month, which included screenshots of the 2002 Philippine Star article linking him to a murder case.37 Subsequently, - Maria Ressa, Executive Director of Rappler Despite the repeated weaponisation of libel by various the case was withdrawn on June 1, 2021. actors, the Supreme Court appears to have shown A third libel case was instituted against Maria Ressa instance, it sustained the conviction of broadcaster and another Rappler reporter Rambo Talabong over an journalist and current senator Raffy Tulfo arising from investigative story on an alleged corruption practice an article he had written for Abante Tonite, a local at a university. Responding to the case, Rappler’s tabloid publication, in 2003. The Court nevertheless legal counsel stated that “cyber libel is now the only ordered Raffy Tulfo to pay the imposed fine and first option in case of disagreement on reporting.” 38 overturned his prison sentence. In 2021, the Court On Aug. 10, 2021, the Manila court dismissed the proceeded to acquit Raffy Tulfo of all libel charges case after the complainant decided that he was no against him and held that the “constitutionality longer interested in pursuing the case. Notably, this of criminali[s]ing libel is doubtful.” In its decision, 39 224 some inclination to decriminalise it. In 2019, for Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia