MANILA: The Philippine securities commission has revoked the registration of an online news outfit known for its critical reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte, a move media watchdogs said is an act to muzzle the free press.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a ruling made public Monday that Rappler violated the constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership and control of mass media companies when it received investment from an international investment firm.
Rappler said it would fight the ruling in the courts and continue to operate. It acknowledged it has two foreign investors, Omidyar Network and North Base Media, but said it “remains 100 percent Filipino-owned” and that the foreigners have no voting rights or a say in its management and news operations.
“What this means for you, and for us, is that the commission is ordering us to close shop, to cease telling you stories, to stop speaking truth to power,” Rappler said in a statment, which added that the ruling was a blow to press freedom.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expressed outrage over the ruling and called on Filipino journalists “to unite and resist every and all attempts to silence us.”
Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, denied the Duterte administration was curtailing freedom of the press.
“The issue at hand is the compliance of 100 percent Filipino ownership and management of mass media,” Roque said. “It is not about infringement on the freedom of the press.”
The brash-talking Duterte accused Rappler last year of being owned by Americans in violation of the Philippine constitution and also said that the news outfit was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Rappler denied the allegations.
Duterte has publicly attacked a leading newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and ABS-CBN TV network for biased reporting, including on his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead since he rose to power in 2016.
Amnesty International decried the decision against Rappler as “a blatant attack on press freedom,” noting the news group had been “fearless in holding those in power to account.”
“This is a politically motivated decision, pure and simple, and just the latest attempt to go after anyone who dares to criticize the government,” James Gomez, the group’s director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. “The Philippines government should focus on ending and investigating violations, mostly against poor communities, in the ‘war on drugs,’ not trying to silence the messenger.”
Online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut in Philippines
Online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut in Philippines
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
