Justice: Media vs. Government

As of Monday, January 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in charge with filing the corporate and partnership title of organizations nationwide, has revoked the certificate of incorporation of a website, Rappler , for the said violation of the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of mass media.

This revocation came after President Rodrigo Duterte accused the said media outlet of selling itself to foreign investor - the Omidyar Network. If this was viewed this way, then Rappler is really guilty of violating the 1987 Constitution wherein the SEC stated that"[t]he ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly - owned and managed by such citizens."

The SEC was convinced that the Omidyar PDRs - derivative instruments which are based on the value of equities as underlying assets but don't grant ownership to the holder - is "fraudulent" transaction which violated the anti-dummy law under the Securities and Regulation Code (SRC). Moreover, if the Omidyar PDRs are said to be compared with other PDRs issued by corporate users, it would be evident that the former carried to right to refuse or to veto some corporate actions by Rappler, as stated by SEC. This action can be understood as Omidyar Network wanting to gain control over Rappler, for the latter to be its dummy, as long as the former was not given equity.

However, even if there was a violation, as experts in the field, the SEC should have given Rappler time to cure the violation, according to an anonymous securities law expert. They even issued a Memorandum Circular No. 8 series of 2013 which gives the companies not compliant with the nationality requirement one year to cure the violation. Despite that, the SEC still declined to provide the required one year "in case of violation of any of its provisions."

Though some may think of this move as justifiable, most still believe that it is a blatant attempt to silence the media outlet that was said to have "no other purpose than to effect deceptive schemes to circumvent the Constitution." However, we can assume that this is not the only reason for forcing Rappler, on of the media outlet that allegedly upset with certain articles criticizing the wrong doings of Duterte administration.

This banning of the freedom of press that obviously speaks ill of the government, reflects the past condition of our media during the Marcos regime. It so happened that our current president is also an advocate of a "fascist dictatorship". How can we be sure that was SEC did was only an act of justice according to the Constitution, and not a move to support the president's "fascist government" scheme?

The press freedom which the Filipino people had also fought for during the EDSA revolution is being violated. Even the Amnesty International's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, was convinced that the move made by SEC was purely politically motivated, and was just another attempt to intimidate those who have the courage to speak up and criticize the government.

The SEC ruling is unconstitutional, according to the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), since it denied due process to Rappler, and undermining freedom of expression which the constitution was grounded upon. Moreover, as a democratic country, it is within our law to give due process before duly stating that an individual (in this case a corporation) is guilty of the said acquisition. The denial of said process can then be assumed as another step towards dictatorship, and was merely a mask to cover the administration's feud with the media.

In reality, the SEC only assumed that the Omidyar PDRs have a certain hold on the corporate decisions of Rappler. The sector lacks enough evidence, and the wrong practice of their own memorandum had baffled other media outlets. Additionally, Rappler argued that the issuance of the PDRs previously discussed was approved by the SEC, and that their revocation was a punishment for upsetting the Durtere Administration because of some article. We don't know for sure that the sector is just carrying out its responsibilities, but following the current chain of events, and now the charter change, we believe that it is safe to say that the government is pushing through the "fascist dictatorship".

From the continued escalation of the bloody war on drugs, the alleged extrajudicial killings which involved the death of innocent victims, the extension of the Martial Law in Mindanao until the end of 2018 as well as the threat of implementation said law nationwide, to the termination of peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and labeling them, with the CPP, as terorist supports is a pure evidence of the scheme the president in plotting to push down the throats of Filipino citizens.

This was also the belief of the top rebel leader, and founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Maria 'Joma' Sison who stated that President Duterte had been using the same strategy and tactics as the former - president Marcos; mass murder, intimidation, corruption, and charter change. She also said that the "Duterte's pretense to change in the unitary form of government to tat of federalism is akin to Marco's pretense to shift to the parliamentary form of government."

This is a deadly approach that threatens the freedom of all media starting from Rappler. Sooner or later, more media outlets will be accused of violating certain laws without clear evidence of the said violation. The government might give them curing period, but if they are hell - bent on closing that institution, then they will close it no matter what. It depends on the people now to make a stand and defend our right to receive information and news about the government's wrong doings, to express our views about those news, and to make our own insight about them.

It is better to prevent the disease while it's still developing. It's better to be aware now, than regret it later. Rappler is being punished for bringing true information to the people even if it is against the government. The media does not serve the higher ups, but provide enough information to the people to permit them to make a stand. Now this we ask you: will you let the government rob you of your freedom? or will you be brave enough to speak up to their schemes along with other Filipino citizens?

Sources

1. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/960389/breaking-sec-annuls-rapplers-license-to-operate

2. http://business.inquirer.net/244209/sec-defends-decision-revoke-rapplers-license

3. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/960987/international-groups-slam-sec-ruling-on-rappler

4. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/961346/rapplers-closure-part-of-dutertes-dictatorship-plan-joma

5. https://philippines.mom-rsf.org/en/context/law/

#rappler #sec #revocation #certificateofincorporation #dictatorship #charterchange