Cases Against Rappler’s Boss Maria Ressa
MARIA RESSA – Here are the cases that are filed against the CEO of Philippine news site Rappler, Maria Ressa.
Filipino journalist Maria Ressa is one of the founders of Rappler. She is among the outspoken critic of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA), he claimed Rappler is “fully owned by Americans.” He said the company violated the 1987 Constitution. Aside from that, the company earned the president’s ire for its relentless coverage of his “war on drugs.”
Based on a report from Inquirer, Rappler Holdings Corp.’s 2015 failed to declare the correct information of their amount annual income tax return and value-added tax (VAT). Maria Ressa and RHC were charged with three counts of violating Section 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code. It was filed in the Court of Appeals (CTA).
READ ALSO: Ressa Says ABS-CBN has “11 Million” Employees During Interview
Another Court of Appeals case, Rappler’s Maria Ressa faced one count of tax evasion for “deliberately and calculatedly not declaring” the profit. For the second quarter of 2015, 1 more count of violation of Section 255. It was filed at Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC).
In 2017, Filipino-Chinese businessman Wilfredo Keng filed a cyber libel complaint against Ressa, former writer-researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. and Rappler for a story that’s published in 2012.
In 2019, Maria Ressa and former board members of RHC are charged over anti-dummy law. It was filed in Pasic Regional Trial Court for providing Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign investment firm Omidyar Network Fund in 2015. According to the report, they paid P90,000 each for the anti dummy charge.
Following a previous article, on Monday, June 15, the court released the decision on the libel case against Rappler’s boss and the writer. The Manila court finds Ressa and Santos guilty.
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