A professor from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) has called out the media for writing about a new cyber libel case filed against Rappler founder Maria Ressa over an online article about the supposed “thesis for sale” modus at the De La Salle University- College of Saint Benilde.
Philosophy professor Bob Asuncion Montana questioned the media’s basis for reporting the charge Ressa is facing with Rappler reporter Rambo Talabong.
“So if it is a private dispute or it is an internal affair of the school why publish it in the first place?” he asked in a Facebook post.
Montana said Ressa’s cyber libel case is no different from the administrative cases he had seen filed over the years as an professor.
“As an academician, I have seen countless administrative cases filed and resolved. Should journalists create stories from all these cases and publish them in national newspapers?” he asked.
The cyber libel case against Ressa and Talabong was filed by Benilde faculty member Ariel Pineda, whom Rappler alleged in an article accepted payments from students in exchange for giving them a passing grade in their thesis subjects under him.
