(Eagle News) — The National Bureau of Investigation has summoned Rappler’s Maria Ressa, a former reporter and a shareholder over a cybercrime complaint filed by a businessman in connection with a Rappler article in 2012.
The NBI required Rappler chief executive officer Ressa, former reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr., and Benjamin Bitanga to appear before them on January 22 at 10:00 a.m.
The subpoenas stem from the complaint filed by Wilfredo Keng over the online article written by Santos that detailed the businessman’s “alleged involvement in illegal activities.”
Rappler’s source for the story was what it claimed to be an intelligence report.
The online article also said Keng allowed then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona–who was facing an impeachment trial at that time—to use his sport utility vehicle for going in and out of the High Court.
Keng, however, vehemently denied the allegation.
In a decision dated January 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission already revoked Rappler’s certification of incorporation for what the SEC said was its violation of the constitutional and statutory foreign equity restrictions in mass media.