A Philippine court has ordered the country’s corporate regulator to restore the licence of Rappler, a news site co-founded by Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, a prominent critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ressa and Rappler have been fighting multiple court cases filed during Duterte’s administration.
The Court of Appeals, in a decision dated July 23 but only released to the media on Friday, reversed a previous ruling by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that had ordered the shutdown of Rappler.
The SEC in 2018 rescinded the operating licence of Rappler for violating foreign equity restrictions on domestic media when it sold depositary rights to a foreign entity. The decision was upheld in 2022, days before Duterte left office.
The appellate court said the SEC “acted with grave abuse of discretion” in revoking Rappler’s certificate of incorporation.
The news site welcomed the decision, saying “the latest in a string of court victories for Rappler, is a much-needed reminder that the mission of journalism can thrive even in the line of fire: to speak truth to power, to hold the line, to build a better world”.
Rappler also said in its statement that “it’s a vindication after a tortuous eight years of harassment. The CA was unequivocal in its rejection of the SEC’s 2018 shutdown order, declaring it ‘illegal’ and a ‘grave abuse of discretion’.”
Rappler has continued operating as it appealed the SEC order.
Under the constitution, investment in media is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities. The case sprang from a 2015 investment from the United States-based Omidyar Network, established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Rappler had previously argued the Omidyar Network was a silent investor. Omidyar later transferred its investment in Rappler to the site’s local managers to stave off efforts by Duterte to shut it down.
Human Rights Watch researcher Carlos Conde said that “justice and good sense have prevailed”, calling the court’s decision “long overdue”.
Ressa is currently on bail after being convicted in 2020 in a cyber-libel case. She has appealed the decision to the country’s top court. She was previously acquitted of five government charges of tax evasion.
She also faces the prospect of a maximum 15-year jail sentence if convicted in a separate case stemming from the Omidyar investment.
