Court of Appeals Denied Rappler’s Appeal in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Case
COURT OF APPEALS – The Court of Appeals denied Rappler’s plea to reverse SEC case.
Online news website Rappler started as a Facebook page “MovePH” until it evolved into a website in January 2012.
It is among the first news website in the country that utilizes videos, photos, text,
Filipino journalist and Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa was previously arrested for cyber libel and posted bail the next day.
On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the website’s license to operate as mass media because it is not 100% owned by Filipinos.
Based on a report from Inquirer, the Court of Appeals released a 25-page resolution last February 21. It states that the court denied Rappler and Rappler Holdings Corp.’s (RHC) motion for reconsideration that was filed in August 2018.
“After a careful scrutiny of the instant motion, this Court finds that it presents no compelling reason to justify the reconsideration of this Court’s decision dated 26 July 2018”
“The arguments raised by petitioners are essentially the same as those that have already been discussed and were exhaustively passed upon in this Court’s decision.”
According to the report, the court of Appeals’ ruling was written by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos. It states the online news outfit’s motion for reconsideration lacks merit.
“In summary, a motion for reconsideration grounded on arguments already submitted to the court and found to be without merit may be denied summarily, as it would be a useless ritual for this Court to reiterate itself”
“Here, petitioners did not raise any new matter of issue in its motion. Accordingly, this Court finds no cogent justification to reconsider its decision dated 26 July 2018,” it added.
Based on the report, the Court reaffirmed that the SEC’s evaluation of Rappler’s business registration has no violation.
“While there is no denying that a full compliance with the procedure under the 2016 SEC Rules was not observed by the SEC, a substantial compliance with the requirements of procedural due process was clearly accorded to the petitioners”
“Therefore, the Court maintains that the assailed SEC en ban decision cannot be annulled on the ground that petitioners were denied due process”
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