Outgoing Philippine administration orders news website shutdown

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Two days before ending its six-year term, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration ordered the shutdown of news website Rappler.com.

The country's market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “affirmed its earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc and Rappler Holdings Corporation,” the website said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rappler promoters have, however, decided to take the matter to court.

“We have existing legal remedies all the way up to the highest court of the land. It is business as usual for us since, in our view, this is not immediately executory without court approval,” the news portal said.

Duterte administration will step down on Thursday to pave the way for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the 17th president of the archipelago nation after winning with an unprecedented lead during the general elections held in May.

Maria Ressa, journalist and Nobel laureate who leads the news portal, was in the US for a conference when the order was issued.

The Rappler in an internal letter to its staff said: “Clarity, agility, sobriety. Review our drills and the tasks assigned to you.”

“Meantime, it is business as usual for us. We will adapt, adjust, survive and thrive,” it added.

Earlier in 2018, the registration of Rappler was revoked for alleged foreign funding.

Rappler filed an appeal in the court which upheld the decision, but gave the news portal a grace period to rectify its oversights.