MANILA – Maria Ressa, executive editor of news website Rappler and chief executive officer of Rappler Holdings, posted bail Monday for the tax evasion charges filed against her at a regional trial court in Pasig City.
Ressa, accused of violating Section 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, turned herself in to RTC Branch 265 to pay the P60,000 bond.
Judge Danilo Buemio issued an arrest warrant against Ressa last week, but this was only released this week upon her return from abroad Sunday night.
“Bring it and I’ll fight it,” Ressa said. “I am going to publicly hold my government accountable for calling me a criminal. I am not a criminal. I have been a journalist my entire life.”
Ressa insisted that “our company pays the right taxes.”
Rappler has been doing critical reporting on the Duterte administration, particularly the war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives and the weaponization of Facebook to shut down critics.
“Even as the government filed these tax cases, they continue to send tax agents to our office looking for documentation to beef it up,” Ressa said.
“I think it is a way of sending a signal that we have to be careful. That’s part of what the administration is trying to do,” she added. “But the more they do things like this, the more we’re going to do investigative reports.”
‘PALACE HANDS OFF JUDICIARY’
Last month the Department of Justice found probable cause to charge Ressa and Rappler for tax evasion. Prior to that, the Bureau of Internal Revenue also filed a tax evasion charge against Rappler.
Aside from the one at the Pasay City RTC, four cases were filed last week at the Court of Tax Appeals accusing Ressa and Rappler of failure to file income and value-added tax returns, in violation of Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code.
Outside the courthouse after posting bail Monday, Ressa said the charges were “politically motivated” and “manufactured.” She expressed shock at “the lengths the government would go to” to prosecute critics.
Malacañang denied having a hand on the issuance of the warrant of arrest against the veteran journalist.
“How can they be prosecuted? It’s a question of tax evasion. You violate tax laws, you will be prosecuted,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told a Palace briefing.
“If you have a justifiable reason for so doing or have … evidence to show that it’s not true, you will be acquitted,” he added. “We have repeatedly said that we have never and we’ll never interfere with the function of the judiciary.”
Panelo added: “If the judiciary finds probable cause for information [to be] filed, then we have to respect the law on the matter. Maria Ressa is entitled to the presumption of innocence and can avail [herself] of legal remedies.”
SIGN OF ‘RECEDING DEMOCRACY’
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines criticized the order to arrest Ressa, saying that it was a sign of a waning democracy.
“Arresting Maria (Ressa) will send a clear signal that the country’s democracy is fast receding under a feckless administration that cannot abide criticisms and free expression, and will go to ridiculous lengths to muzzle all those it does not agree with,” the NUJP said.
According to the group, unless the intention was really to “humiliate and intimidate her,” the government can pursue the tax evasion charges without having the news website editor arrested.
It was hard to believe President Rodrigo Duterte did not have a hand on the arrest order, what with his “loathing for Rappler and critical media in general,” as expressed in his various speeches, the NUJP added./PN
