Tax court: Maria Ressa still free to travel even with cyber libel conviction

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) said Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is still free to travel despite her cyber libel conviction even as it affirmed the denial of her bid to take a specific trip to the United States.

The CTA Second Division denied Ressa's petition challenging a Pasig court's rejection of her motion to travel to the US. In that motion, the veteran journalist said she was traveling for speaking engagements and in support of the release of a documentary about her and her news company.

Ressa is accused of failing to report the sales of Philippine Depositary Receipts in Rappler Holdings Corp.'s value-added tax return for the second quarter of 2015, allegedly resulting in a VAT deficiency of some P2.45 million.

She was convicted of cyber libel in Manila last June and faces another cyber libel case initiated by the same businessman, Wilfredo Keng, in Makati.

Ressa originally asked the Pasig court, where the tax case is pending, for permission to travel from August 1 to August 30, but her motion was denied. She later moved the travel dates to August 23 until September 10.

In a December 4 decision, the CTA said the necessity of the proposed travel has already lapsed and the issue has become moot.

But the tax court denied Ressa's petition "without prejudice to the filing of other motions to travel," which means the Rappler CEO can still ask the Pasig court for permission to travel at another time.

Citing a Supreme Court ruling in which a convicted man was allowed to travel with his wife and children to the United States, the CTA said Ressa is still "free to travel" even though she has been convicted of cyber libel.

"...The petitioner's conviction in the cyber libel case alone is not sufficient justification for the court a quo to prevent her from attending to her professional engagements outside the country," the CTA said.

The CTA also said that travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Pasig court had worried may force Ressa to stay indefinitely out of its reach, may also ease up.

"This reality will allay any concerns that lockdowns will prevent petitioner Ressa from ever coming back and place her permanently beyond the reach of the trial court," it said.

The CTA also said the trial can proceed through videoconferencing in case Ressa is unable to physically appear in court.

It also pointed out that the Pasig court has granted 15 of Ressa's previous motions to travel, and that she had complied with the conditions, including posting a total of P1.2 million in travel bonds.

The 40-page decision was written by Associate Justice Juanito Castaneda, Jr., with concurrence from Associate Justice Jean Marie Bacorro-Villena.  —KBK, GMA News