Philippine Nobel winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion

MANILA: Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa was acquitted Tuesday of her final tax evasion charge, the latest legal victory for the veteran journalist as she battles to stay out of prison.
Ressa smiled as the judge delivered the verdict in a case that has dragged on for nearly five years.
The 59-year-old, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, has been fighting multiple charges filed during former president Rodrigo Duterte's administration, and still faces two cases.
A vocal critic of Duterte and his deadly drug war, Ressa has long maintained that the charges against her and Rappler, the news website she co-founded in 2012, were politically motivated.

"You gotta have faith," a visibly relieved Ressa told reporters outside the court after the acquittal.
Ressa and Rappler had faced five government charges of tax evasion stemming from the 2015 issue of Philippine depositary receipts, which is a way for companies to raise money from foreign investors.
A court acquitted them on four charges in January. The fifth was heard by a different court, which cleared her and Rappler of wrongdoing on Tuesday.

"Today, we celebrate the triumph of facts over politics," Rappler said in a statement.
"We thank the court for this just decision and for recognizing that the fraudulent, false, and flimsy charges made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue do not have any basis in fact."
Despite the acquittals, Ressa and Rappler face an uncertain future as they battle another two court cases.
Ressa and a former colleague Rey Santos Jr are appealing a cyber libel conviction that carries a nearly seven-year jail sentence.
Rappler, meanwhile, is challenging a Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission order to close for allegedly violating a ban on foreign