Philippine Court Quashes Shutdown Order vs Maria Ressa's Rappler News Organization

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine appellate court voided the order of government regulators to shut down Rappler, the news organization co-founded and headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Ressa. 

This Court of Appeals decision ends what Rappler called "years of harassment" launched by former President Rodrigo Duterte's administration. Under the strongman's rule, Rappler battled not just the revocation of its license to operate — its biggest case — but also several cases of tax evasion, libel, and cyber libel. 

"The Securities and Exchange Commission is ordered to restore the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler, Inc and Rappler Holdings Corporation in its records and system and withdraw all its issuances and actions made pursuant to its illegal revocation of the same," said the appellate court. Its decision was dated July 23 but made public only on Friday, August 9.

"The facts show that Rappler Holdings, and by extension Rappler, are currently wholly owned and managed by Filipinos, in compliance with the Constitutional mandate," it said.  

The news organization has been cleared of all charges, except two. One is a pending appeal with the Supreme Court to reverse a cyber libel conviction by a lower court. Another is an anti-dummy case connected to the supposed foreign ownership issue with a trial court.

Triggering the Court Case

In January 2018, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the license of Rappler Inc and Rappler Holdings Corporation. Their action was triggered by a request from then-President Duterte's Solicitor General. 

The SEC said the Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) issued by Rappler to Omidyar, a foreign investor, violated the Constitution's requirement for mass media companies to be fully owned by Filipinos. The regulator had previously recognized and allowed the same financial instrument issued by other media and telecommunications companies. 

When Rappler appealed the SEC ruling with the Court of Appeals, the latter ordered the SEC to review its closure order. It assessed that the issue appeared to have been cured after Omidyar issued a waiver and the PDRs were donated to Rappler's all-Filipino management. 

Instead, the SEC ignored the court order. A day before Duterte stepped down, it reiterated its order to shut down Rappler. 

What the Court's Decision Says

The Court of Appeals decision was a scathing rebuke of the SEC's defiance: "Like a bull seeing red, the SEC En Banc plowed through law and jurisprudence to reach its mark — the death of Rappler. The SEC En Banc violated the hierarchy of courts and ignored procedure. These actions have no place in a democratic state."

The appeals court added: "SEC En Banc's ruling goes well beyond mere failure to understand the [court's earlier] ruling, it displays willful defiance that exceeds even the threshold of grave abuse of discretion." 

The court also pointed out what it said were facts the SEC refused to consider: 

• "The terms of the PDRs clearly show that Rappler Holdings retained full ownership of the underlying shares."  
• "Under the terms of the PDRs, Omidyar is not even given a potential ownership right, or the option to become an owner of Rappler Holding's shares. Instead... the only option of a non-Filipino PDR holder is to sell or transfer the PDRs to another holder."
• "There is also no law or regulation directly prohibiting the issuance of PDRs by mass media companies or even public utilities." 

Rappler Reacts

In a press conference Friday afternoon August 9, Ressa was asked to compare the state of press freedom and Rappler's persecution under Duterte and the current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. She said it had been a journey "from hell to purgatory." 

Rappler's lead counsel Francis Lim said a "process of cleansing" is definitely happening — "not perfect, but getting there." 

Ressa also said: "The lesson I learned is it doesn't matter if you follow the law if the people who implement the law decide to weaponize it. It doesn't matter if you follow every single clause if the rule of law does not exist."  

"We shouldn't have survived 2018, but this is where you have to look at crisis as opportunity," she said. 

Since the Duterte government instigated cases against Rappler, the organization has won international awards for its reporting. Maria Ressa has also been recognized by various institutions, including as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. 

Ressa is actively campaigning against big tech platforms that have deprioritized news in their algorithm and have promoted hate and disinformation. 

She said Rappler has launched its own app that does not only give news updates but promotes chat channels for various communities and their specific interests. It is free from the toxic and bot-pervaded environment. 

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Author: JAPAN Forward