I am in great dismay following the decision of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission to revoke the registration and the Certificate of Incorporation of online news and media organization Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC) after it allegedly violated the 1987 Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law following its issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDR's) to American-based Omidyar Network in 2015.
According to the Philippine Stock Exchange, a Philippine Depositary Receipt is a security which grants the holder the right to the delivery of sale of the underlying share. PDRs, however, are not evidences or statements nor certificates of ownership of a corporation.
Besides Rappler, there are some other media networks who had been issuing PDR's to foreign investors like ABS-CBN, GMA and even telecommunications company PLDT. Despite the fact that these media and telco outfits had issued PDR, they remain Filipino-owned companies. So it is clear in our perspective that Rappler is not operated by Omidyar Network (ON) and is 100% owned by a Filipino. It's just a fact to say that ON invested in Rappler, but it does not necessarily mean that they own it.
Seeing these facts, it clearly manifests that the SEC decision against RHC that owns Rappler, Inc. is political in nature. If we can still recall it correctly, the President threatens Rappler for their reports and articles against him. Therefore, it is a threat against the freedom of the press and of media companies like Rappler. This is a resemblance of Marcos' restrictions to media following his declaration of Proclamation No. 1081 commonly known as Martial Law.
Though I am not a business expert, I rely my statements based on the facts according to those who really know the process of issuing PDR's. As would like to reiterate, PDR's only shows that investors are investing to Philippine companies but they do not own or have a say in decisions about the operations of the company.
So together with other journalists in the country, I stand behind Rappler and against the attacks on media to suppress press freedom!
Rappler, Inc. logo
Rappler continues to deliver unbiased news despite SEC decision to revoke the online news and media company's Certificate of Incorporation.
Foreign firms North Base Media and Omidyar Network invests in Rappler but doesn't own it nor has any voting rights in the parent company, Rappler Holdings Corporation under their PDR's.
Rappler's ownership as shown in the chart above. As stated, Rappler remains 100% Filipino-owned despite foreign investments from North Base Media and Omidyar Network.
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