This triumph is a testament that winning is possible if people choose to fight.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — The victory served as vindication for online news outfit Rappler and a repudiation of the Duterte presidency.
These were the words of Jonathan de Santos, chairperson of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), when asked to comment on the recent Supreme Court (SC) decision in favor of Rappler.
“It is even more embarrassing for Duterte and his followers because he made the allegations against Rappler during his State of the Nation Address, and his officials bent over to obey him,” De Santos said in response to questions raised by Bulatlat.
In a resolution dated January 20, 2026, the SC Third Division granted the motion filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that sought to withdraw its motion for extension, which supposedly gives additional time for OSG to question the earlier decision of the Court of Appeals (CA), which ruled that Rappler is a locally controlled media firm.
The high court declared the case “closed and terminated.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed the decision, saying it restored the legal standing of Rappler as a Filipino-owned company.
De Santos said there is no assurance that the Marcos Jr. administration and the future leaders would not resort to the same tactics. However, he said this triumph is a testament that winning is possible if people choose to fight.
A press freedom case
The legal battle started in January 2018 after the Duterte administration-led Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked Rappler’s certificate of incorporation after a reported five-month probe.
Read:Media groups assail SEC shutdown order against Rappler
The commission claimed that the Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs)—a financial instrument issued to foreign investors—issued by Rappler to US-based Omidyar Network was unconstitutional. Hence, the online news outlet appealed the decision before the appellate court.
According to the timeline published by Rappler, the CA ruled that PDRs issued to the foreign investor constituted “some foreign control.” However, the court said Rappler must be given time to correct this part of the deal.
Omidyar donated the PDRs to Rappler managers, and the appellate court asked the SEC to review its decision, believing that the donation had fixed the problem. Despite this, the SEC affirmed its order revoking the media outfit’s business certification.
In 2024, however, the appellate court ruled that Rappler Incorporated and its parent company, Rappler Holdings Corporation, are Filipino-owned and controlled firms. The same court also affirmed the ruling a year after.
Rappler leaders considered this a press freedom case aimed at silencing critical media outfits given the issuance of the SEC decision without allegedly giving them an opportunity to respond.
Prior to the SEC shutdown order, Rappler has been reporting about extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s “war on drugs” and other stories that were critical to the administration.
Pushing back
It took Rappler more than eight years to secure this legal victory.
Because of the recent SC decision, cases filed against the news outfit, its officials, and its staff reportedly dropped to one, which is the cyber libel conviction against Rappler co-founder Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos. According to a Rappler report, the case is still pending before the high court.
Read:Guilty verdict vs Maria Ressa, reporter ‘an attack on all’
“[S]top using spurious legal means to harass the media,” said CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin.
De Santos stressed that pushing back is highly significant for journalists or newsrooms to do against entities that would try to curtail press freedom. The NUJP, he said, can extend its hands when it comes to legal first aid through its Media Legal Defense Network.
In November 2025, online media outfit Bulatlat also won its censorship case after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 voided the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) memorandum dated June 8, 2022, as the order constitutes content-based prior restraint.
The memorandum ordered internet service providers to block the websites of Bulatlat, alternative news outfit Pinoy Weekly, and 25 others for allegedly promoting terrorism or alleged connections to the communist movement.
TIMELINE:The fight against website blocking in the Philippines
De Santos noted some challenges in the industry. “The level of support that our media colleagues could give varies. It will be a challenge for us in the long run, and it may cause self-censorship or may be a reason for them to leave the media,” he told Bulatlat.
He stressed that a close-knit media community and civil society are tantamount to pushing back. (AMU, RVO)
DISCLOSURE: Ronalyn V. Olea is the secretary general of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines and editor-in-chief of Bulatlat.
The post SC decision on Rappler case: Another victory for press freedom appeared first on Bulatlat.
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