(Eagle News)– Some Rappler reporters and correspondents have asked the Supreme Court to lift what they said was President Rodrigo Duterte’s coverage ban against them.
In filing the petition for certiorari and seeking for a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction for the lifting, Rappler reporters Pia Ranada, Mara Cepeda, Camille Elemia and Ralf Rivas, and regional correspondents Bobby Lagsa, Frank Cimatu, Mauricio Victa and Raymon Dullana said their ban from covering specific events was a violation of the constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of the press, speech, and due process and equal protection.
The petition was filed against the Office of the President, the Office of the Executive Secretary, the Presidential Communications Operations Office, the Presidential Security Group and the Media Accreditation Registration Office.
Ranada in particular was banned from the area where press briefings are held in the Palace in February last year.
The Rappler reporter, who has continued reporting on the President since then, has said the order came from President Duterte himself, who has said for his part that his decision was based on a Securities and Exchange Commission ruling that revoked Rappler’s certificate of incorporation.
In making the revocation, the SEC ruled the media outfit had violated the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of media, among others, when it issued Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign entity Omidyar in 2016.
Rappler has appealed the ruling before the Court of Appeals, but the appellate court ruled in favor of the SEC.
Rappler filed a motion for reconsideration of the appellate court’s decision, but the CA denied this, saying it found no compelling reason to reverse its previous ruling.
The CA, however, also said it was”incumbent upon the SEC to evaluate the terms and conditions of said alleged supervening donation and its legal effect, particularly, whether the same has the effect of mitigating, if not curing the violation it found petitioners to have committed.”
The appellate court was referring to what Rappler said was Omidyar’s subsequent donation of the PDRs to Rappler managers following the SEC revocation.
