Poe thinks arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa seems ‘a bit excessive’

Senator Grace Poe. PHOTO FROM SENATOR GRACE POE’S OFFICE

DASMARIÑAS CITY— Reelectionist senator Grace Poe said on Thursday the government went a bit too far in handling the arrest of veteran journalist and Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa over a cyberlibel charge.

“Hindi ko nga maintindihan bakit parang, ‘di ba inarrest s’ya, tapos they made her stay overnight, walang set bail, until the next day… parang medyo excessive (I don’t really understand, she was arrested, then they made her stay overnight, there was no set bail, until the next day… it seems a bit excessive),” Poe said.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, also questioned the way the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) implemented Ressa’s arrest.

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“Well she is not a criminal in that killing sense… Of course cyber(libel) can hurt but it’s like… ayaw nila magpakuha ng media… gano’n… so bakit gano’n yung nagiging pagkilos ng NBI (they don’t want to get the media… so why did the NBI acted that way),” she said.

Poe, who was guest at the mass wedding of 662 couples here on Valentine’s Day, was asked to comment on the arrest of Ressa.

Ressa was arrested late Wednesday afternoon, spent the night at the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue in Manila, and released Thursday after posting bail amounting to P100,000.

Media groups have since condemned the arrest, calling it a deliberate attack on press freedom and an attempt to silence critics of the Duterte administration.

Poe, seeking reelection as an independent candidate, said press freedom is “important for democracy.”

She said she hopes the court handling Ressa’s case would observe “right procedures and processes” and respect freedom of the press as guaranteed in the Constitution.

“We have to be sure they’re not trying to stifle freedom of speech. I think it needs to be clearly explained to erase all doubts,” she added. /kga