MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine appeals court has ruled in favor of a news agency in its fight against a 2018 shutdown order in a decision released Friday, a legal victory for journalists who had angered former President Rodrigo Duterte by reporting critically on his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs and his alarming human rights record.
In a July 23 decision, the appeals court ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the incorporation documents of Rappler, an online news channel founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.
It was not immediately clear whether the SEC would appeal the ruling.
Despite the closure order, Rappler continued operating during the legal dispute.
Rappler was accused of violating a constitutional ban on foreign investment in local media outlets when it received funds in 2015 through so-called Philippine Depository Receipts from the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic organization backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The government alleged that the funds gave Omidyar some control over Rappler.
Rappler denied that Omidyar exercised any control over the financial proceeds, which Omidyar later donated to the online company’s employees.
The court ruled that the 2018 shutdown order – one of several legal problems Ressa and Rappler faced under Duterte – was issued “under grave abuse of discretion and in violation of established procedures, legal and judicial instructions, and the clear intent of the Constitution.”
Duterte and other Philippine politicians have said the criminal charges against Ressa and Rappler, which are also tax charges, are not a press freedom issue but part of normal legal proceedings.
However, Duterte was known for openly attacking journalists and news outlets that reported critically on his deadly campaign against illegal drugs, including the country’s largest television network, ABS-CNS. ABS-CNS was shut down in 2020 after Duterte-allied lawmakers refused to renew its license.
The Philippines has long been considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.
In 2009, members of a powerful political clan and their allies shot dead 58 people, including 32 media workers, in a brazen attack in the southern province of Maguindanao, the deadliest single attack on journalists in recent history.
While the mass killing was later linked to a violent election campaign, it also highlighted the threats journalists face in the Philippines. An oversupply of unlicensed weapons and private armies controlled by powerful clans, as well as a lack of law enforcement in rural areas, are among the security concerns journalists face in the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country.
