MANILA, Philippines — The reported donation by the Omidyar Network of its $1.5-million investment to online media outfit Rappler’s Filipino managers “a circumvention of the law,” Malacañang said.
“Omidyar Network’s reported donation of its Philippine Depository Receipts to its Filipino managers does not remove the fact Rappler breached the Constitution,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.
Contrary to Omidyar’s claim that the donation “completely eliminates the basis of the unwarranted” Securities and Exchange Commission ruling revoking Rappler’s registration, Roque said “this latest act is nothing but a circumvention of the law, which restricts ownership of media entities in the country to 100 percent Filipino-owned.”
He reiterated that Rappler’s claim the SEC decision is an infringement of press freedom “is merely a plot to distract from real issue.”
“Let us therefore wait for the SEC, having jurisdiction, to address this new development,” Roque said.
Rappler has appealed the SEC decision before the Court of Appeals.
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