Palace: Omidyar’s donation does not remove fact Rappler violated Constitution

February 28, 2018

Malacanang shrugged off on Wednesday Omidyar Network’s reported donation of its Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to Rappler's Filipino managers.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said this "does not remove the fact that Rappler breached the Constitution."

"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 said.

Rappler reported that Omidyar Network announced it has donated its Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to 14 Filipino managers of the online news organization.

"This donation completely eliminates the sole basis of the SEC ( Securities and Exchange Commission) ruling against Rappler Incorporated and Rappler Holdings Corporation. We therefore strongly believe that the companies should be allowed to continue operating unhindered in the Philippines," said Omidyar partner Stephen King in a conference call.

On Jan. 15  SEC revoked Rappler's license for allegedly violating constitutional provision on 100 percent ownership of mass media.

"Let us therefore wait for the SEC, having jurisdiction, to address this new development," Roque said.

Roque added that Rappler’s defense of infringement of press freedom "is merely a ploy to distract from the real issue, as resolved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the former is a foreign entity." Celerina Monte/DMS