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MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Filipino prosecutors announced Sunday that they would file tax evasion charges against an information website that criticizes President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Justice Department said in a statement that it had found a probable cause to indict Rappler Holdings Corp. and its president, journalist Maria Ressa. The case could be filed later this week, said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Rappler called this "a clear form of ongoing intimidation and harassment" and an attempt to "silence reporting that does not please the administration".
Duterte had already banned a reporter from Rappler at his briefings after the government government determined that the organization had violated a constitutional ban on foreign ownership by receiving money from an international investment company. Rappler rejected the decision.
In the Philippines, Duterte has accused several independent media of making biased reports, including for its crackdown on illicit drugs that has claimed the lives of thousands of poor, mostly urban residents, and condemned by Western governments. and American organizations.
"We are not at all surprised at this decision, given the government's track record with regard to Rappler's treatment by his independent and intrepid report on what is happening in the country," said the lawyer. Rappler, Francis Lim.
He denied the tax evasion charges related to the sale of Rappler bonds in 2015 to two foreign entities. Rappler, founded in 2012, claims to remain in the hands of all people of Filipino descent and that foreigners do not have the right to vote or have a say in management and information activities. .
Last year, Duterte had accused Rappler of having belonged to Americans in violation of the Philippine Constitution and to have been funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Rappler denied the allegations.
