That is AI generated summarization, which can have errors. For context, all the time check with the total article.
This comes after the Supreme Court docket ended the case that sought to close down the digital media firm
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court docket (SC) has put an finish to the case involving the shutdown order of the Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) towards Rappler, marking the digital firm’s victory towards one of many largest circumstances it confronted.
“The Court docket additional…declares this case closed and terminated and the events knowledgeable accordingly,” the SC Third Division stated in a decision dated January 20, 2026.
The case was closed as a result of the SC division granted the Workplace of the Solicitor Common’s (OSG) request to withdraw its movement for extension. The movement for extension initially requested the Excessive Court docket to present the OSG further time to file a authorized problem towards the Court docket of Appeals (CA) choice that voided the SEC’s shutdown order towards Rappler.
As the federal government’s main counsel, the OSG led by Solicitor Common Darlene Marie Berberabe was lawyering on the SEC’s behalf.
In 2024, Rappler gained its case towards the SEC after the CA voided the previous’s shutdown order. A 12 months later, the appellate court docket affirmed its choice that declared that Rappler is Filipino-owned, and denied the SEC’s movement for reconsideration that challenged the 2024 ruling.
“This is a crucial victory for Maria Ressa and journalists throughout the Philippines. I welcome the place taken by the Solicitor Common on this case and the court docket rulings recognizing the paramount significance of the press in a free society. I hope the courts will resolve the remaining circumstances towards Maria consistent with these similar values,” worldwide human rights lawyer and Lebanese-British barrister Amal Clooney stated in an announcement.
Clooney is representing Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.
“This can be a vital and welcome victory for our consumer, Maria Ressa, and for Rappler, following a authorized battle stretching for nearly a decade. This ought to be a pivot level for Maria, Rappler, and for press freedom and the rule of legislation within the Philippines. We hope this optimistic course of journey will proceed because the remaining circumstances towards Maria attain decision,” Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Ressa’s different counsel, stated.
What occurred earlier than
Underneath then-president Rodrigo Duterte, the SEC revoked Rappler’s certificates in January 2018, claiming that the Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) — a monetary instrument issued to overseas investor Omidyar – was unconstitutional.
As a response, Omidyar donated the PDRs to Rappler’s Filipino managers, triggering the CA in the identical 12 months to ask the SEC to reevaluate its choice. Nonetheless, the SEC upheld its shutdown order simply days earlier than Duterte stepped down from the presidency in 2022.
The CA, in August 2024, granted Rappler’s problem towards the SEC choice and ordered the restoration of Rappler and Rappler Holdings Company’s Certificates of Incorporation. The CA additionally famous that the digital media firm was “accorded preferential remedy — a adverse one” by the SEC.
It additionally reiterated that Omidyar’s donation of the PDRs to Rappler had already eliminated the SEC’s concern — an earlier argument raised by the information group.
When the CA affirmed its choice in 2025, it reiterated its discovering that the SEC ignored the sooner CA choice that ordered it to assessment the authorized results of Omidyar’s donation.
Of the lengthy checklist of circumstances filed towards Rappler and its officers within the final years, just one case continues to be pending. Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos’ enchantment of their June 2020 cyber libel conviction continues to be pending earlier than the SC.
Simply final March, the OSG additionally filed a manifestation with the Excessive Court docket asking it to acquit Ressa and Santos within the case. – Rappler.com
