Gov’t execs to brief Europe on Rappler rap

The government has dispatched a “press freedom caravan” to make the European media understand the “real nature” of the cyberlibel case of Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa who said the law was being weaponized against critics of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a radio interview, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said the caravan, led by PCOO officials, was now in Bosnia and would head to Belgium and Switzerland to talk to European media on the state of press freedom in the Philippines under President Duterte.

Andanar said the PCOO team was composed of Undersecretaries Lorraine Badoy and Joel Egco and Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan.

Local and foreign organizations slammed the arrest and overnight detention of Ressa after she was served an arrest warrant by the National Bureau of Investigation last Wednesday for a cyberlibel case filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng.

Keng sued Rappler for a 2012 article that accused him of involvement in illegal drugs and human trafficking.

Ressa was released after she posted a P100,000 bail.

Andanar said international media should get Keng’s side or lose objectivity and violate journalists’ code of ethics.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday dared Ressa to sue him and the government if she was convinced she was wrongly indicted and arrested.