TRUTH PREVAILS PH government to shut down Rappler

BY DANICA HABLADO

Two days before Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration as the 17th President of the Philippines, the government issued an order to shut down the online news website, Rappler, for supposedly violating foreign ownership regulations.

The news site, infamous for its critical reporting of the outgoing President Duterte’s drug war and alleged human rights violations, was co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.

In a keynote address at the East-West

Center’s International Media Conference in Honolulu, she said, “We are entitled to appeal this decision and will do so, especially since the proceedings were highly irregular.”

Rappler is one of the few remaining media sites critical of Duterte’s administration and is particularly noted for its probe of the controversial drug war.

In 2018, a lawsuit was filed against Rappler, asserting that the company had sold itself to a foreign corporation, which is forbidden for mass media companies in the Philippines.

Rappler has since rejected the claimed violation and is opposing the ruling.

According to reports, Ressa stated that they “have been harassed” and they “refuse to succumb” to such political tactics.

Rappler claims that their use was approved by the SEC in 2015 and has consistently denied that they are in violation of a constitutional ban on foreign media investment.

The order came during Duterte’s final days as president and before President-elect Bongbong Marcos Jr. was inaugurated. C