Thread by @mikenavallo

After previously denying Maria Ressa's bid to travel outside the country, the Court of Appeals Eighth Division hearing the appeal to her cyber libel conviction allowed her to travel to the US for a program at Harvard and visit her parents in Florida. How did the court rule?

CA said Ressa was able to prove the necessity and urgency of her travel. The invitation letter from Harvard shows the program requires her physical presence for 30 days. CA also considered humanitarian grounds to allow her to visit her parents whom she had not seen for 2 yrs.

In December last year, the same court had blocked Ressa's bid to visit her ailing mother who was due for an operation, saying she failed to prove the necessity and urgency of her travel.
CA now says denial of previous motions are inconsequential.
news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/24/20/…

CA also found Ressa successfully proved she is not a flight risk, citing her itinerary, her strong economic ties to PH as Rapper CEO and her undisputed compliance with court-imposed conditions in her previous travels. She told ANC she intends to finish her appeal.

In a motion for reconsideration, the Office of the Solicitor General tried to block Ressa's travel saying Ressa was merely invited by Harvard and regarding her visit to her parents, she could use "available online and technological applications."

But the CA Eighth Division stood by its earlier ruling, saying the OSG failed to present new compelling reasons.

FULL STORY:

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa left for the United States on Sunday, her news agency said, after the Court of Appeals allowed her to attend a program at Harvard University and visit her parents there.

news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/01/21/…