Rappler CEO, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and journalist Maria Ressa announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission upheld its earlier decision and ordered the online news website to shut down. The SEC ruling  was received by Ressa through their lawyers on June 28 during the East-West Center international media conference in Hawaii.  

In a statement made by Rappler during the conference in Honolulu, the company said that they will appeal the decision as it was ‘highly irregular’,

“In an order dated June 28, our Securities and Exchange Commission affirmed its earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc and Rappler Holdings Corporation.We were notified by our lawyers of this ruling that effectively confirmed the shut down of Rappler. We are entitled to appeal this decision and will do so, especially since the proceedings were highly irregular.”

In January of 2018, SEC accused Rappler of violating nationality restrictions on ownership and control of mass media entities. Moreover, during the same time, the online news organization’s registration was revoked  due to violation of  the Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law. According to the SEC, Ressa and 13 others accepted Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) from a foreign investor named Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment founded by  French-born Iranian-American billionaire Pierre Omidyarm. Rappler claims that PDR does not give foreign nationals ownership rights. They also said that Rappler is owned and managed by Filipinos.

On her Twitter, Rappler journalist Mara Cepeda described  the order of SEC as a ‘final act’ of the current administration as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will step down tomorrow, June 30. 

“Reaffirming the shutdown order against Rappler is one of the Duterte government’s final acts before its term ends by noon tomorrow. Not immediately executory, so it’s business as usual for us. So laban lang. Magpapakatatag at ‘di magpapatinag. Tuloy-tuloy lang tayo.” Cepeda said.

Rappler and its CEO Maria Ressa have been involved in legal battles and controversies over the years due to its critical and condemning reports to the Duterte administration and its ‘War On Drug’ campaign.