AN ARREST warrant has been served to journalist Maria Ressa, chief executive officer and executive editor of news website Rappler, Wednesday afternoon, February 13.
The warrant, issued by Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46, was served by the National Bureau of Investigation Cybercrime Division after the Department of Justice indicted her and the online publication for violation of Republic Act 10175, also known as Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, over a "defamatory" article published on the website in 2012.
Ressa was at the Rappler headquarters when authorities came to arrest her.
Rappler streamed the serving of the arrest warrant live on its Facebook page and said in a post that "an officer part of the serving party prohibits Rappler employees from taking photos and videos inside the office."
Posts on Twitter said Ressa was supposed to give a keynote speech at the University of the Philippines Wednesday, February 13, when the arrest warrant was served.
Ressa was recently included in Time's 2018 Persons of the Year for her contributions to journalism. An arrest warrant was also issued against her in December 2018 for tax evasion, but she posted a P60,000 bail. (LMY/SunStar Philippines)