BY PRINCE GOLEZ and ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Malacañang on Friday welcomed a Court of Appeals (CA) decision dismissing the petition for review that the online news website Rappler filed against a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order to revoke is registration due to issues on ownership.
“The decision of the CA affirms that the Securities and Exchange Commission was correct to revoke Rappler’s registration based on its previous investigation,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.
In a 72-page decision dated July 26, the CA denied Rappler’s appeal but directed the SEC to “conduct an evaluation of the legal effect of the alleged supervening donation made by Omidyar Network of all its Philippine Depository Receipts (PDR) to the staff of Rappler, Inc.”
The CA added that “while the Omidyar PDR states that the right to vote on the Rappler shares is retained by Rappler Holdings Corp., said right to vote is being shared with or exercised jointly by Rappler Holdings Corp, as the owner of the shares, and Omidyar, through Clause 12.2.2.”
“Thus, under a ‘zero’ foreign control standard, it would appear that this is tantamount to some foreign control,” the ruling added.
Omidyar Network has donated all of its $1.5 million worth of PDRs to 14 Rappler managers following the SEC’s issuance of the revocation order.
Roque said the decision “supports the Palace stance that this case does not involve press freedom, but the regulatory powers of the SEC.”
“We are confident that the SEC will be able to resolve the case with the same competence and objectivity as before,” the Palace official added.
Rappler’s legal counsel Francis Lim said, “We have not yet received a copy of the decision but we will surely not take the decision sitting down and will take all legal actions necessary to have the issue finally resolved by the Supreme Court.”
Lim added, “I’m glad that the CA has ordered the SEC to conduct further proceedings to determine the legal effect of the donation of the PDRs to the Filipino staff of Rappler. What this means is that the SEC decision cannot be enforced or implemented until the issue is finally decided. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for Rappler.”/PN
