The Court of Appeals has ruled that Philippine news site Rappler can continue operating, according to a copy of the decision released to the media on Friday.
“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,” the CA Special 7th Division said in a decision promulgated on July 23.
“The facts show that Rappler Holdings, and by extension Rappler, are currently wholly owned and managed by Filipinos, in compliance with the Constitutional mandate,” the decision added.
The SEC revoked Rappler’s certificate in January 2018, saying that the Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) issued to the online media’s foreign investor Omidyar was unconstitutional.
In a statement, Rappler welcomed the CA decision.
“This court decision, 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,” it said.
“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,” said the online news agency whose co-founder and CEO, Maria Ressa, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
A month after, Omidyar donated the PDRs to Rappler’s Filipino managers, which led the CA in the same year to ask the SEC to reevaluate its decision, believing the donation had removed the problem. Instead, the SEC upheld its order just before former president Rodrigo Duterte stepped down from the presidency in 2022. As all of this was happening, Rappler was battling the SEC in the CA and was at risk of being shut down.
According to Rappler, it has two more pending cases: a cyberliber conviction of Ressa that is on appeal in the Supreme Court and and anti-dummy case being heard in a Pasig court.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Court decision allows Philippine news site Rappler to continue operating
