A Pasig court has acquitted Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC) in a tax evasion case filed in connection with their supposed failure to declare tax in 2015.
According to Atty. Francis Lim, Ressa’s lawyer, the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 157 acquitted Ressa and RHC of violation of Section 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code (Tax Code) for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
With this, Ressa and RHC have been acquitted in all five tax evasion charges filed against her under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In November 2018, the government accused Ressa of failing to declare “correct and accurate” information in quarterly sales receipts from RHC’s issuance and sale of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDR) worth P2.45 million.
This allegedly resulted in a value-added tax deficiency of P294,258.58, excluding surcharge and interest, to the damage of the government.
A PDR is a security that grants the holder the right to the delivery or sale of the underlying shares of stock and is usually not evidence of ownership of a corporation.
In January, the Court of Tax Appeals acquitted Ressa and RHC of four tax evasion charges for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. —KBK, GMA Integrated News
