Philippine appeals court sides with news outlet in fight against 2018 shutdown order

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine appeals court sided with a news agency in its fight against a 2018 shutdown order in a decision made public Friday, marking a legal victory for journalists who angered former President Rodrigo Duterte by reporting critically on his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs and alarming human rights record.

The Court of Appeals ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the certificates of incorporation of Rappler, an online news outfit founded by 2021 Nobel peace prize co-winner Maria Ressa, in a decision issued July 23.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the SEC will appeal the ruling.

Rappler has continued to operate during its legal fight, despite the closure order.

Rappler was accused of violating a constitutional ban on foreign investments in local media agencies when it received funds through financial papers called Philippine depository receipts in 2015 from the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic organization backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The government alleged that the funding gave Omidyar some control over Rappler.

Rappler denied Omidyar wielded any control over it through the financial receipts, which Omidyar later donated to the online outfit’s employees.

The court ruled that the 2018 shutdown order, one of several legal issues that Ressa and Rappler faced under Duterte, was made “with grave abuse of discretion, contravening established procedures, jurisprudential and legal instructions, and clear intent of the constitution.”

Duterte and other Philippine officials have said the criminal complaints against Ressa and Rappler, which included tax lawsuits, were not a press freedom issue but part of normal judicial procedures.

But Duterte was known for openly lambasting