Maria Ressa pleads not guilty to tax raps
Credit to Author: MA. REINA LEANNE TOLENTINO, TMT| Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2019 19:03:34 +0000
Maria Ressa, chief executive officer of news site Rappler and president of Rappler Holdings Corp. (RHC), on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the charges that she is facing before the Court of Tax Appeals’ (CTA) First Division.
Trial will start on May 15, with the prosecution presenting the first of its six witnesses.
“We did nothing wrong and I’m very proud of Rappler and what we’ve accomplished,” Ressa said in an interview after the arraignment.
“I still say that these cases are all politically motivated. I mean, where in the world do you come home on a Friday, get arrested, post bail and on a Monday, get another arrest warrant and post bail again? I’ve been arrested twice in a little over a month and a week or so,” she added.
Ressa was arrested on March 29 over a charge of violation of the Anti-Dummy Law. She later posted P90,000-bail before the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 265.
She posted P126,000-bail on April 1 over a charge before the Pasig City RTC Branch 158.
“We will fight every single one [of the cases] and hope for the integrity of the men and women who will handle these cases and that they go as well as today,” she said.
The Department of Justice filed four cases before the CTA in November 2018 against Ressa, who posted bail totaling P204,000 on Dec. 11, 2018 even as there was no court order to arrest her.
In two of the cases, it was alleged that the she failed to supply correct and accurate information in the quarterly value-added tax return of RHC for the third and fourth quarters of 2015, respectively.
These two cases involved alleged deficiency in value-added tax totaling P21.5 million.
In one case, it was alleged that Ressa failed to supply correct and accurate information in RHC’s income tax return for 2015.
In the other case, it was alleged that the Ressa attempted to evade or defeat tax.
This case involved P48.72-million income tax, whose payment was allegedly defeated.
“We’re very thankful to the court for leading us in the stipulation and for the entire proceedings in general. We believe in the fairness and it’s just a matter of time that we will get an acquittal,” lawyer Eric Recalde told reporters in the interview.
“We’ve been appearing before the court and based on what transpired this morning, we’re confident that we’ll get a fair trial,” he said.
Recalde added that the defense would present several pieces of documentary evidence.
“As to the witnesses, it all depends on the evidence that will be presented by the prosecution,” he said.
Recalde added that whether Ressa would testify also depended on the prosecution’s evidence.
Meanwhile, the court allowed Ressa to travel to Italy and New York from April 3 to April 14.
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