Court of Appeals restores Rappler's media license

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals has ordered to restore the certificate of incorporation of the company that runs news website Rappler and its owner, Rappler Holdings Corp., voiding a 2022 ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission that declared the company was not 100% Filipino-owned.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission is ordered to restore the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation in its records and system and withdraw all its issuances and actions made pursuant to its illegal revocation of the same,” said the Court of Appeals Special 7th Division in a 48-page decision promulgated on July 23.

In a statement on Friday, Rappler said the appeals court's decision was a "vindication after a tortuous eight years of harassment."

"Rappler welcomes the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that eliminates a long-standing threat to its corporate existence on account of a flawed ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). When the rule of law prevails, justice is served," the statement read.

"The CA was unequivocal in its rejection of the SEC’s 2018 shutdown order, declaring it 'illegal' and a 'grave abuse of discretion,'" the news organization added.

In 2018, the regulatory commission ordered to shut down Rappler for violating the constitutional prohibitions for mass media when it issued Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) that gave Omidyar Network, a foreign entity, control over the media organization.  

That same year, the Court of Appeals upheld the regulatory commision's decision that the media organization allegedly violated the Constitution and foreign equity restrictions in mass media.

However, the court also asked the regulatory commission to evaluate the legal effect of the alleged donation of Omidyar Network of all its PDRs to Rappler staff.

In 2022, the regulatory commission ruled that Omidyar's donation of PDRs "did not cure the violation by Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation" and upheld its revokation of Rappler's certificates.

On July 23, the appeals court ruled that the regulatory commission had committed grave abuse of discretion when it ruled that the donated PDRs did not