Maria Ressa —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Journalist Maria Ressa and Rappler Holdings Corp. (RHC) have been acquitted of their fifth and last tax evasion case, her latest legal victory over the slew of charges thrown at her by the previous administration of Rodrigo Duterte.
Judge Ana Teresa-Cornejo Tomacruz of the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 157 handed down the verdict on Tuesday, more than four years since this and four other similar tax evasion cases were filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2018 against Ressa, 59, and RHC, the corporate entity of Rappler.com which she serves as CEO.
The charges that Ressa and RHC failed to declare taxable income in the second quarter of 2015 when it issued Philippine depositary receipts (PDRs) to investment company NBM and Omidyar Network Fund, were largely seen by observers as a reprisal to its critical reporting on Duterte’s war on drugs.
In acquitting RHC and Ressa, Tomacruz ruled that the PDR transactions were merely investment activities to raise capital.
PDRs are financial instruments that grant their holder the right to the delivery or sale of underlying shares but not ownership rights.
The judge also affirmed their argument that there was no buying or selling of securities in the PDR transactions, which meant that RHC and Ressa were not liable to pay the value-added tax (VAT) under Section 105 of the Tax Code.
“As a result, it cannot be said that RHC willfully filed an inaccurate VAT return or that it is liable for any deficiency VAT relative to the PDR transaction with NBM,” wrote Tomacruz.
Her decision mirrored those of the other four tax cases filed with and later dismissed by the Court of Tax Appeals, as these cases were hinged on identical facts.
‘Court system works’
Smiling as she exited the court, Ressa told reporters that the decision “strengthens our resolve to continue with the justice system, to submit ourselves to the court despite the political harassment, despite the attacks on press freedom.”
“It shows that the court system works and we hope that the remaining cases are dismissed,” said the veteran journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize awardee.
Ressa was referring to at least two more cases filed against her and Rappler.com—the cyberlibel conviction against her and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. over a 2012 story on businessman Wilfredo Keng, now pending before the Supreme Court; and their appeal on the closure order against Rappler.com by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pending before the Court of Appeals.
The SEC’s closure order stemmed from Rappler’s alleged violation of a constitutional ban on foreign ownership in media—in particular, a 2015 investment by US-based Omidyar Network which later transferred it to the news site’s local managers.
In 2019, Ressa was also charged in connection with that partnership for violating the Anti-Dummy Law (Commonwealth Act No. 108). She was arrested early morning of March 29 that year, upon her arrival in Manila from an overseas trip, but later posted bail of P90,000 before the Pasig RTC Branch 265.
Ressa’s lead counsel, Francis Lim, said her acquittal “spoke extremely well of our judicial system and sends a strong message that rule of law prevails in the Philippines.”
—WITH REPORTS FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH AND AFP INQ
READ: A thousand cheers for Maria Ressa