Palace lauds CA decision on Rappler petition

Malacañang lauded on Friday the decision of the Court of Appeals decision dismissing the petition of online news site Rappler to reverse the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ruling revoking its business registration.

“The decision of the Court of Appeals affirms that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was correct to revoke Rappler’s registration based on its previous investigation,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

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The decision, Roque said, supports the Palace stance that this case does not involve press freedom, but the regulatory powers of the SEC.

“We are confident that the SEC will be able to resolve the case with the same competence and objectivity as before,” he said.

In a 72-page ruling on Thursday, the CA’s Special 12th Division upheld the revocation order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the registration of Rappler for violating the 1987 Constitution.

Omidyar Network, according to the  decision penned by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos, had “some foreign control” over Rappler when the SEC issued the revocation order against the online site.

While the Omidyar PDR (Philippine Depositary Receipt) states that the right to vote on the Rappler shares is retained by [Rappler Holdings Corporation], said right to vote is being shared with or exercised jointly by RHC, as the owner of the shares, and Omidyar, through Clause 12.2.2,” the CA ruling stated.

“Thus, under a ‘zero’ foreign control standard, it would appear that this is tantamount to some foreign control,” the ruling added. /muf