MANILA – Rappler Chief Executive Officer Maria Ressa on Tuesday said that she posted bail anew before Pasig City Regional Trial Court over alleged violations on foreign ownership rules of the online news website.
In a social media post, Ressa said that her P126,000 bail last Monday was for the warrant of arrest issued on a complaint filed last year by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“I posted bail and was released Friday, but received another arrest warrant April 1 and posted bail today for the 8th time! 11 legal cases and complaints filed by the justice department in 14 months,” Ressa wrote on Twitter.
Pasig City RTC Branch 158 Judge Rowena Modesto San Pedro issued arrest warrant against Ressa after founding probable cause to charge her and six other colleagues for alleged violation of the security code.
This case was different from the one under the Pasig City RTC Branch 265 which tackled the online news website’s violation on anti-dummy law where an arrest warrant was also issued last week.
It was not clear, however, if Ressa’s co-accused managing editor Glenda Gloria and 2016 board members Manuel Ayala, Nico Nolledo, James Bitanga, Felicia Atienza and James Velasquez have posted their bail on the fresh arrest warrant.
The case against Ressa and other Rappler officials stemmed from the website’s issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts to Omidyar Network, an Indonesian company that invested in the online news website.
Aside from this case, Ressa is facing at least 9 other cases including libel, multiple counts of tax evasion and cyber libel, where she was arrested and bailed out earlier this year./PN
