SC ALLOWS MARIA RESSA TO TRAVEL ABROAD AGAIN

THE Supreme Court (SC) has again allowed veteran journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa to travel abroad over a 20-day period for a series of speaking engagements.

This is the second travel permission for Ressa who will be going to Singapore, United States and Taiwan. Before this, Ressa travelled to Canada, France, South Korea, and the United States, also for speaking engagements.

The Supreme Court, in its resolution, ordered Ressa "to observe the sub judice rule and to refrain from making any comment on or discussing in public her case and other related matters."

The Court also said that petitioner shall travel on the cash bond of P100,000 she previously posted pursuant to a previous resolution of the Court.

Furthermore, petitioner is required to transmit to the Court an advice in writing of her return to the country within five days from her arrival.

In all, the Court has granted petitioner's seven motions for travel abroad to visit 14 countries.

Ressa has a pending appeal before the Supreme Court for her cyberliber conviction.

In June 2020, Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa convicted Ressa and Reynaldo Santos Jr. of cyber libel and were meted out a prison term ranging from six months to six years.

The duo appealed their conviction before the Court of Appeals (CA), but was denied in a resolution dated Oct. 10, 2022.

2023-05-30T14:45:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd