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[av_heading heading=’Rappler boss, 2 others face cybercrime raps’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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January 20, 2018
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MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has summoned Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa and two others in relation to a cybercrime complaint filed against them in 2012.
Also subjects of NBI subpoenas are former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr. and Benjamin Bitanga, the owner of Dolphin Fire, a company that has shares in Rappler Holdings, Inc.
NBI deputy director for investigation services Attorney Vicente De Guzman, who signed the subpoena, said the three personalities are required to appear at their headquarters in Manila and submit their evidence on Jan. 22 at 10 a.m.
De Guzman said the subpoena on Ressa, Santos and Bitanga stemmed from a cybercrime complaint filed by Chinese-Filipino businessman Wilfredo Keng, who was among the subjects of a Rappler investigative report in 2012.
Based on the news report of Santos, Keng allegedly lent his black Chevrolet Suburban to then Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona who was facing an impeachment complaint.
Rappler reported that the SUV, which bore the plate number ZWK 111, was registered under Keng at the Land Transportation Office. While Keng admitted ZWK 111 was his, he said he did not own the SUV Corona used.
Rappler, in a statement on Thursday evening, said the subpoena issued by NBI on Ressa, Santos and Bitanga just showed how the Duterte government was harassing the critical news website.
“There’s no better evidence that the attacks against Rappler are political in nature, from the SEC’s [Securities and Exchange Commission] decision to the investigation of the DOJ [Department of Justice] and the NBI to this new subpoena,” it said.
The SEC, in its ruling on Monday, revoked the corporate registration of Rappler after engaging in a “deceptive scheme to circumvent the Constitution” when it granted Philippine depositary receipts (PDRs) to a foreign investor, the Omidyar Network of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Article 16, Section 11 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that the operation of mass media in the country “shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly owned and managed by such citizens.”/PN
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