I laud the efforts of American-based firm Omidyar Network (ON) to donate its Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to Rappler, Inc. last February 28 to formally nullify the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revoke its Certificate of Incorporation for allegedly violating the Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law.
Omidyar Network logo. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Pierre Omidyar. The founder of eBay and Omidyar Network.
Photo from Omidyar Network website.
According to financial and legal experts, a Philippine Depositary Receipt is a financial instrument that allows foreigners to invest in a Filipino company without owning any part of it or being involved in day-to-day management.
This act of ON to donate its PDR's to 14 Filipino managers shows their commitment to promote social good through the use of information technology and mainstream media. This also shows that Omidyar Network DID NOT AND NEVER HAD ANY INFLUENCE OVER RAPPLER'S MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS AND EDITORIAL POLICY thus nullify the SEC ruling on Rappler's foreign ownership. To things straight, Rappler appears to be 100% fully-owned by Filipinos.
Rappler newsroom. Photo downloaded from Rappler.com
This act of generosity only shows how Omidyar Network is serious in dealing Rappler's case and its stand against press freedom and independent journalism. It also shows that the ON denounces the government's actions towards Rappler that is rooted to unsavory articles published by the news organization thus establishing a political vengeance plot to the latter. I would also like to take note that ON's decision to donate their PDR's to Filipinos doesn't mean that it is already an admission of guilt that they breached the Foreign Equity Restrictions in Mass Media as stated in our Constitution.
With these developments from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, I hope that the Court of Appeals may junk the SEC decision and allow once more Rappler to operate without any further restrictions and pressures coming from the government to deliver unbiased news to its clientele - the Filipino people.
Rappler logo. Photo from Rappler.com
Together, let's stand with Rappler and defend press freedom!!
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