MANILA, Philippines — Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) shortly after arriving Friday morning.
The arrest warrant was issued by Judge Acerey Pacheco of the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 265, as seen in a Facebook livestream of the news website Rappler.
Prior to landing, Ressa said in a tweet that she will be posting bail: “Landing in a short while to face my latest arrest warrant and the 7th time I will post bail.”
“#HoldTheLine we pledge to not just hold power to account but I will mark every violation of my rights under the PH Constition (like harassment cases to try to intimidate @rapplerdotcom!),” she added.
In a separate tweet, Ressa said: “Seriously?!?! Imagine the tax pesos wasted. #HOLDTHELINE.”
“Will they actually arrest me again?! @rapplerdotcom this is insane. Such violations of the Bill of Rights and the PH Constitution,” she further said.
Ressa and other Rappler executives Manuel Ayala, Nico Jose Nolledo, Glenda Gloria, James Bitangca, Felicia Atienza and James Velasquez were charged by the Pasig City prosecutors over an alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law and the Securities Regulations Code (SRC).
Rappler has been under fire for allegedly violating the Constitution’s requirement on foreign ownership.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked Rappler’s license to operate for violating the constitutional cap on foreign ownership.
Ressa was arrested last month over a cyberlibel case and spent the night at National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office.
Ressa then posted a P100,000 bail before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 for the cyberlibel case.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1101061/rapplers-ressa-arrested-at-naia
