Aside from acquitting them, the court said no civil liability could be imposed against Maria Ressa and Rappler Holdings Corp. as the alleged unpaid tax obligation has not been factually and legally established and proven. | onenewsph
Nobel laureate and Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa reacts after the Court of Tax Appeals cleared her and her online news firm of tax evasion cases filed by the previous administration on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Photo by Jesse Bustos, The Philippine STAR
Aside from acquitting them, the court said no civil liability could be imposed against Ressa and the RHC as the alleged unpaid tax obligation has not been factually and legally established and proven. The cases were filed a few months after the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a closure order against Rappler for supposed violation of the law against foreign ownership of a local media outfit.Filed by the Department of Justice in November 2018, the cases before the CTA involved three counts of violation of Section 255 of the NIRC for the RHC’s alleged failure to supply correct information in its value-added tax returns and income tax return for the third and fourth quarters of 2015.
“As discussed, no gain or income was realized by the accused in the subject transactions… Neither is it liable for VAT as it is not a dealer in securities,” the ruling read. “We hope we are seeing the beginning of an end to the previous administration’s strategy to instrumentalize the courts as a means to undermine independent news organizations and damage journalists’ credibility. As an immediate next step, we call for all remaining cases against Rappler and Ressa to be closed and their constant persecution to be stopped once and for all,” it added.
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