MANILA – Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa has entered a not guilty plea to four tax-related charges during her arraignment at the Court of Tax Appeals on Wednesday.
Ressa is facing one count of tax evasion and three counts of alleged violation of Section 255 of the Tax Code or failure to supply correct information in the Income Tax Return (ITR) for 2015, and Value Added Tax (VAT) returns for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2015.
The cases stemmed from tax deficiencies amounting to P13.082 million, P48.723 million and P8.422 million, or a total of P70.227 million in 2015, when Rappler sold Philippine Depositary Receipts to NBM Rappler L.P. and Omidyar Network Fund LLC.
Ressa said in an interview after her arraignment that she was positive and the process was “very professional on all sides” and she is “happy with it.”
“I’m hoping for justice,” Ressa said. “This is my first time, truly, being arraigned and sitting there and thinking about it make me slightly angry, so my anger management is still there.”
“But seeing the professional way it was handled, on both sides, I would say that these cases are all politically motivated. Where in the world do you come home on a Friday, get arrested, post bail, and on Monday get another arrest warrant and post bail again?” she added.
“I’ve been arrested twice in a little over a month, so it’s clear. But we will fight every single one and hope for the integrity of men and women who will handle these cases.”
Aside from this case, Ressa is facing more cases including libel, violation of security code, violation of anti-dummy law and cyber libel, where she was arrested and bailed out earlier this year./PN
