MANILA, Philippines – Senator Risa Hontiveros and other opposition figures denounced the reaffirmation of the closure order against Rappler, two days before President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office.

Hontiveros, whom outgoing vice president Leni Robredo has christened as next opposition leader, said the closure order is “truly deplorable” and an attack on the free, critical press. 

The senator argued the Duterte government’s latest attack against Rappler came at a time when the incoming administration of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is pushing to accredit vloggers to cover Malacañang.

“It is truly deplorable that this administration continues to find new ways of threatening legitimate news organizations not to exercise press freedom… We need critical, honest, and facts-based journalism. I will always fight for freedom of the press,” said Hontiveros in a statement on Wednesday, June 29. 

“Silencing important media voices like Rappler, and ABS-CBN before it, not only affects the flow of information for the day. These assaults on independent press and other perceived ‘threats’ also chip away at our democracy,” she added. 

Former senator Leila de Lima, the most prominent political detainee from the Duterte regime, said on Thursday, June 30 that the closure order has “Duterte’s vengeful imprint.”

“This development simply solidified the Duterte legacy of oppression against critics and media organizations, especially those who are independent and fearless,” said De Lima in a dispatch she wrote from her jail cell in Camp Crame.

“These six years under Duterte have been a total disaster to post-EDSA Philippine democracy, and the havoc continues until the very last day. What a way to mark the end of this vindictive and repressive regime!” she added. 

Robredo’s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said the closure order came as no surprise, given the outgoing administration’s “spotty track record” of upholding press freedom and its “clear hostility” towards Rappler. 

“This merely makes clear the challenge ahead – to push back against government-led efforts to clamp down on and delegitimize the free press and to draw a clear line in defense of truth and free speech,” said Gutierrrez.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) affirmed on Tuesday, June 28, its decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler because of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) issued by Rappler Holdings Inc. to foreign investor Omidyar. Rappler plans to appeal the SEC’s latest ruling.

Rappler earlier appealed the SEC’s initial closure order with the Court of Appeals (CA).  In July 2018, the CA sided with the findings of the SEC that the PDRs constituted prohibited foreign control, but at the same time remanded the case to the SEC to reevaluate the shutdown order.

The CA justices argued saying Omidyar’s donation of its PDRs to Rappler “appears to have permanently removed the problem.” The CA also said in that decision that the corporation code gives Rappler a curing period. 

The SEC’s decision against Rappler came on the same day Duterte himself admitted he used his presidential powers to block the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, the country’s biggest media network. The National Telecommunications Commission also blocked the access of 28 websites, including leading alternative news site Bulatlat. 

ACT Teachers Representative France Castro, one of the three remaining lawmakers of the progressive Makabayan bloc in the next 19th Congress, said all these media attacks is a “prelude” of what’s to come under the Marcos presidency. 

“They are truly targeting media outlets that ask the hard questions and does not kowtow to the administration line. What is very dangerous though is that in doing so, the forces of disinformation and tyranny would grow more emboldened,” said Castro.

This was echoed by Anakpawis national president Ariel Casilao, saying: “This is not a trait of a president, but of a tyrant or warlord like during the Marcos dictatorship.”

‘Silencing fearless journalism’

Several opposition groups said the latest attack against Rappler is a doubling down of the attacks of two government forces averse to critical press: Duterte’s outgoing administration and the incoming government of Marcos. 

Marcos, son of the late dictator, ran a well-oiled campaign that sought to evade scrutiny as he repeatedly harped on his message of unity in the absence of a detailed platform. The Marcoses’ vast disinformation network spent years rehabilitating their image and to erase from Filipinos’ memories the atrocities committed during the Martial Law years declared by the patriarch. 

Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said the closure order against Rappler was a “tightening of the disinformation campaign of the Duterte and the incoming Marcos regime.” 

“It’s bent on silencing fearless journalism so its machinery can continue propagating lies,” said Colmenares. 

The Akbayan party-list group argued the SEC’s ruling on Rappler “sends a chilling effect that practically threatens other media practitioners.”

“The outgoing administration’s final act is the persecution of its perceived enemies. In a time when historical revisionism and fake news weaken our institutions and wreak havoc on the truth, a strong, free, and independent press is vital to the protection of our democracy,” said Akbayan. 

Media groups and human rights organizations have also deplored the SEC’s shutdown order against Rappler, slamming the Duterte government for weaponizing the law against journalists. – Rappler.com