MANILA: The head of a Philippine news site critical of President Rodrigo Duterte is facing another court case for allegedly violating the country’s ban on foreign ownership of the media.
Rappler Inc chief Maria Ressa and several other executives of the website were charged by government prosecutors for breaching the so-called anti-dummy law by allowing a foreign company -- US-based Omidyar Network Fund Inc -- to “intervene” in its management and operations despite a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of media. The charges were filed on March 20, according to court documents released to media on Wednesday.
Rappler’s executives haven’t commented on the charges, but Ressa earlier said the foreign investor never had editorial or business control over the media company. The journalist, one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2018, is separately facing tax evasion and online libel cases which she refutes.
The site, which Duterte once called a 'fake news outlet', was ordered shut by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year for the same foreign ownership issue. However, the Court of Appeals told the commission last month to review its closure order, saying the foreign control appeared to have been removed after Omidyar donated its depository receipts to the site’s local managers.