UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

LABORATORY SCHOOL-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Tamag, Vigan City

Ressa: Guilty? or Not Guilty?

Reviewed by:

Brian Vincent S. Sabio

STEM A

April 12, 2019

I. Issue:

Maria Ressa, Rappler’s chief executive officer was arrested for cyber libel, tax evasion and anti-

dummy law which was seen by the community as politically motivated act by the government.

II. Background:

Maria Ressa is one of the most highly-regarded journalist in the Philippines, spending two decades

working as investigative reporter, foreign correspondent and both Manila and Jakarta Bureau Chief

for CNN.

In 2012, she and her fellow female journalists came together to form Rappler, an online g news

flatform with an ethos similar to a tech start-up, operating with a small team of 12 young reporters

and developers.

However, the government began to investigate Rappler for tax evasion, alleging that the company

failed to pay the $3 million in tax due on the company’s 2015 bond sales to two foreign parties.

While usually such investigations take a minimum of a year, the department decided to press

charges in just five months. A warrant of Ressa’s arrest was issued on November 2018, and she

turned herself into the authorities day’s later, where she posted bail and was released/ the case is

still ongoing.

Last week, Ressa and Rappler were hit with another lawsuit, this time for alleged cyber-libel relating

to a story published on 2012 about Philippine businessmen Wilfredo Keng and his connections to a

top court judge. Keng had originally filed lawsuit on 2017 claiming defamation which was it was

dropped, but it was refilled last year.

However as Rappler lawyers have pointed out, the cyber-libel law being used against rappler and

Ressa was enacted four months after the story was published. Nonetheless, on Wednesday. Four

plainclothes officers arrived at the Rappler’s headquarter in Manila and arrested Ressa, taking her to

the NBI. She was held overnight and was released on Thursday morning after posting bail of 100,00

pesos.
Recently, Pasig City Prosecutors have filed charges against several executives of the news website

Rappler, including its chief Maria Ressa over an alleged violation of the anti-dummy case at 90,000

pesos each. Ressa is still abroad and could not post bail yet.

Meanwhile, bail for the violation of the SRC case has been set at P126, 000 each but the case is still

being re-raffled.

Pasig City Prosecutor’s office charges Maria Ressa, 7 other officers/directors of Rappler with

separate violations of the Anti-Dummy Law and the Securities Regulations Code for issuing Philippine

Depository Receipts of Rappler Holdings, Inc. to foreign entity.

III. Reaction:

Based on this article that I have read, I have the following realizations in life that we need to be very

cautious in our actions and in what we are saying or posting in the internet or in any social media

because the Cyber Crime Law has been implemented so we need to think before we click. Constant

verifications should be applied before we are going to react in a situation that we have observed or

seen in the community so that we won’t regret in the end. And if Miss Maria Ressa and the rest of

the team are guilty in their actions then they need to face the consequence of their actions. A law is

a law and is should be respected and be followed.

IV. References:

Maria Ressa arrest: everything you need to know about the Rappler editor. Hannah Ellis-Peterson.

February 14, 2019/5:14 am. Retrieved on April 10, 2019/ 08:24 PM. Retrieved from the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/feb/14/maria-ressa-arrest-warrant-anti-dummy-law.html

Ressa, Rappler executives charged over alleged anti-dummy law violation. ABS-CBN News. March 27,

2019/ 05:37 PM. Retrieved on April 10, 2019/8:28 PM. Retrieved from ABS-CBN News

https://www.abc-cbn.com/news/ressa-rappler-executives-charged-over-anti-dummy-law