A day after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked Rappler’s corporate registration for violating the constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would also look into the possible criminal culpabilities of the media entity’s officials.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II on Tuesday revealed that he has already ordered a review of the SEC’s decision and its legal consequences on Rappler. “I have directed my legal staff to study the legal issues of this case.”
Aguirre admitted that the DOJ review would cover possible criminal liabilities of executives of Rappler. “Yes, it will cover all angles,” the DOJ chief stressed when asked if the probe would include criminal aspects.
In its order on Jauary 11, the SEC revoked Rappler’s corporate registration, saying it violated constitutional provision on foreign ownership. The revocation of its registration is tantamount to a closure order.
Article 16, Section 11 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that ownership and management of media “shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly owned and managed by such citizens.”
SEC, the commission tasked to regulate companies, specifically cancelled the multimedia news organization’s license, accusing it of effecting a “deceptive scheme to circumvent the Constitution,” especially by getting funds from Omidyar Network of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
The decision cancelled Rappler’s certificate of incorporation and the Omidyar Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs), which are instruments that give foreign investors a passive economic interest in a Philippine company.
The SEC held that one of the so-called PDRs issued by Rappler does not function that way, as it effectively gives veto power to a foreign company.
Rappler and other media groups and press-freedom advocate claimed that the revocation of its registration was an attack on press freedom.
They accused the Duterte administration of having a hand in the SEC ruling, which, they said, was to silence Rappler, which has been extensively covering the administration’s bloody war against illegal drugs.