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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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January 18, 2018
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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte called online news site Rappler a “fake news outlet” as he defended an aide from accusations of meddling in government procurement.
Rappler has reported that Special Assistant to the President Bong Go allegedly intervened in the selection of a supplier for the acquisition of new Philippine Navy frigates, or warships.
“We don’t intervene with the affairs of the Armed Forces,” Duterte said on Tuesday in defense of Go, who allegedly endorsed a supplier for the P15.7-billion acquisition.
And then the President railed against Rappler.
“For your information,” a report on the news site quoted him as saying, “you can stop you suspicious mind from roaming somewhere else. But since you are a fake news outlet, then I am not surprised that your articles are also fake.”
In response, Rappler in a statement on Wednesday, “The President knows who produces fake news in the Philippines, and it certainly is not Rappler.”
The news site also accused Duterte supporters of spreading misinformation.
“He (Duterte) doesn’t have to look far from where he sits in Malacañang,” Rappler added.
Duterte’s comments just a day after news broke that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered to revoke Rappler’s articles of incorporation for allegedly violating constitutional restrictions on mass media ownership.
Reacting to the SEC decision, Duterte stressed that Rappler violated the constitutional and statutory foreign equity restriction in mass media.
In its order, the SEC cited a provision in the Philippine depositary receipt (PDR) that Rappler issued to Omidyar Network – which stated that the news site would have to seek prior approval from the foreign group before it could alter its articles of incorporation and bylaws, among others – as a “deceptive scheme to circumvent the Constitution.”
PDRs are instruments that give foreign investors a passive economic
interest in a Philippine company.
“You were funded by foreign money. Are you not ashamed of that? You had the gall to attack people using foreign money,” Duterte said.
Rappler has repeatedly explained that the PDRs it issued to its investors do not give the latter ownership and management rights. It branded the SEC order an “attack on press freedom.”
On the other hand, the Department of Justice will investigate any criminal liability Rappler has.
“I have directed our persons to investigate the case involving the Rappler,” Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told a news conference on Wednesday. “Our investigation will cover all angles and that includes the criminal aspect.”
Article 16, Section 11 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that the operation of mass media in the Philippines “shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly owned and managed by such citizens.” (With Adrian Stewart Co/PN)
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