“Over the years, there have been endless cases against Maria, and each one is baseless. The Philippine court rejected this latest defamation case with prejudice and restored confidence in the rule of law by doing so. This is a proof.”
The court clerk Raul de la Cruz confirmed to AFP that the defamation case against Ressa and Rappler reporter Rambo Talabong was dismissed on Tuesday after the complainant decided to abandon it.
According to a copy of the fee schedule, the case originated from a story written by Talabong about a university professor allegedly accepting money from a dissertation student in exchange for passing grades.
Reza said that the dismissal was “a temporary relief, but the continued harassment and intimidation activities against me and Rappler continue.”
After the complainant stated that he was not interested in pursuing the case, another defamation charge against Ressa was dismissed in June.
Tarabong welcomed the latest ruling, but said that “no reporter should experience this.”
“We should legalize defamation because it consumes too many valuable resources and time of reporters. I experienced this firsthand,” he said in a statement.
