Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was found not guilty of tax evasion in the Philippines on Tuesday, September 12. This closes the last chapter on what human rights groups called the local government's harassment crusade against the press.
After nearly five years of hearings on several accusations, a court in Pasig City, Metro Manila, has effectively exonerated Ressa, 59, and her digital journalism organization, Rappler. Ressa's prior conviction for cyber-libel in 2020 is still being appealed, and so is the order to shut down Rappler's activities.
"This is a victory not just for Rappler but for everyone who has kept the faith that a free and responsible press empowers communities and strengthens democracy," Rappler stated.
Alleged Effort to Silence Media
Beginning in 2018, the cases coincided with Rappler's critical coverage of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, notorious for his brutal "war on drugs" campaign that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
According to The Washington Post, human rights advocates generally believed that the government's charges of Rappler's foreign ownership and tax violations were an effort to bankrupt the company and silence one of the most critical voices in the press. The most popular TV network in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, likewise went off air.
If found guilty, Ressa could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail and had to pay a fine of up to $1,700. Four more counts of tax evasion were dismissed against her by the Philippine Court of Tax Appeals earlier this year, but the government has petitioned for a reconsideration of the case.
Charges Against Rappler
After studying the internet attacks against Ressa, the International Center for Journalists' global director of research, Julie Posetti, argued that the remaining charges against Rappler should be dismissed.
Posetti, who co-leads the international Hold the Line Coalition, a support network for the campaign against Rappler, made this statement after now-president Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of a previous dictator, won in a landslide election alongside Duterte's daughter Sara.
"The Marcos government must distance itself once and for all from the Duterte era attacks on the Nobel laureate and her news outlet," she stated, as reported by The Washington Post.
Foreign investors, such as the Omidyar Network founded by eBay co-founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar, are at the center of the government's tax proceedings against Ressa and her organization. The government said Rappler avoided paying over P600,000 in taxes (about $11,000). This sum allegedly pertains to the sale of stocks using Philippine depository receipts.
Rappler rebutted, saying that deposits are not subjected to tax.
Ressa worked as a journalist for CNN before becoming the head of operations for ABS-CBN before launching Rappler in 2012. When the majority of Congress, led by Duterte supporters, voted against the network's franchise in 2020, the network was pulled off the air.
