Palace: Duterte has nothing to do with tax case involving Rappler, Maria Ressa

Malacañang on Monday denied that President Rodrigo Duterte may have a hand in the tax evasion case involving journalist Maria Ressa and her news website Rappler, which has ran reports critical of the government.

"Definitely [not]. He has too many obligations to fulfill. As we said we hardly cope up with this man. He's always working. We are amazed at how industrious he is," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

He also rejected speculations that the arrest warrant issued by a Pasig City court against Ressa is a case of political persecution.

"How can they be prosecuted? It's a question of tax evasion. You violate tax laws [and] then you will be prosecuted," Panelo said.

"If you have a justifiable reason for so doing or will introduce evidence to show that it's not true, then you will be acquitted. Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and that includes everybody, including Ms. Ressa."

He reiterated that the government does not and will never interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.

"We have repeatedly said that we never and will never interfere with the function of the judiciary as well as the other branch [legislature]. If the judiciary finds probable cause for an information then we have to respect the law on the matter," Panelo said.

Panelo's reaction came an hour before word got out that the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 265 recalled the arrest warrant against Ressa after she posted a bail of P60,000 for her temporary liberty.

Ressa is the president of Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC) which is facing five cases at the Pasig trial court and the Court of Tax Appeals following indictments made last month by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ said the case filed at the Pasig RTC was about RHC's failure to file value-added tax return under Section 255 of the Tax Code.

Cases pending at the CTA, meanwhile, involve violations of Sections 254 and 255 of the Tax Code which stemmed from Rappler's alleged failure to pay taxes out of the income it gained from the sale of P162.5-million worth of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDR) in 2015.

Rappler's sale of PDRs to a foreign firm was also used as basis by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revoke the media outfit's certificate of incorporation in January for supposedly violating the foreign ownership restrictions.

The Court of Appeals in July denied Rappler's bid to reverse the SEC decision but tasked the corporate regulator to look into the "legal effect" of Omidyar Network's donation of PDR shares to some Rappler officials and staff. 

Ressa, who returned to the country on Sunday night, said she will hold the government accountable for calling her a "criminal."

"I am not a criminal. I have been a journalist for my entire life. I will continue to hold my government accountable," she said.

Human Rights Watch, for its part, maintained that that the charges filed against Rappler and Ressa are "politically motivated and part of the Duterte administration's campaign to harass, threaten and intimidate critics."

"This is not surprising behavior by the administration but is nonetheless abominable," said HRW Philippines researcher Carlos Conde. — RSJ, GMA News