MANILA: Filipino Nobel laureate Maria Ressa was acquitted on Tuesday of her latest tax evasion charge, the latest legal victory for the veteran journalist as she fights to stay out of jail.
Ressa smiled as the judge handed down the sentence in the years-old case, a journalist told a Manila courtroom.
The 59-year-old, who won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, has been fighting several allegations that were brought during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ressa, a vocal critic of Duterte and his deadly drug war, has long argued that the cases against her and the news website Rappler, which she co-founded in 2012, were politically motivated.
“You have to have faith,” a visibly relieved Ressa told reporters outside the court after the acquittal.
Ressa and Rappler faced five government charges of tax evasion stemming from the 2015 sale of Philippine depositary receipts, a way for companies to raise money from foreign investors.
In January, the court acquitted them of the four charges. The fifth was heard by another court, which cleared her and Rappler of wrongdoing on Tuesday.
Despite the acquittals, Ressa and Rappler face an uncertain future as they fight two more court cases.
Ressa and former colleague Rey Santos Jr. are appealing a cyber defamation conviction for which they face nearly seven years in prison.
Rappler, meanwhile, is challenging the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission’s order for allegedly violating the ban on foreign ownership in media.
According to the constitution, media investments are reserved for Filipino citizens or citizen-controlled entities.
The dispute is related to an investment made in 2015 by Pierre Omidyar’s US-based Omidyar Network.
Omidyar Network later transferred its Rappler investment to the site’s local managers to fend off Duterte’s efforts to shut it down.
Despite the remaining hurdles, Ressa was characteristically defiant and upbeat on Tuesday, telling reporters the latest acquittal “reinforces our determination to pursue justice.”
“It shows that the justice system is working and we hope that the remaining charges will be dismissed,” she said.
