Maria Ressa pleads not guilty in tax deficiency cases

Rappler Holdings Corp. president Maria Ressa pleaded not guilty before the Court of Tax Appeals on Wednesday over her cases for alleged tax evasion and incorrect declaration of tax returns cases.

Ressa entered the plea during her arraignment at the tax court’s First Division.

The pre-trial then proceeded where both parties stipulated on the documents and witnesses who will be presented, with the first hearing set on May 15 for the testimony of a certain Jocelyn Bautista.

The Department of Justice told the CTA they will have six witnesses while the defense said they will present at least two, including the testimony of Ressa "if necessary."

The CTA also granted the motion of Ressa to travel to Italy and New York from April 3 to 14 to speak at a journalist conference and women's summit, respectively.

Ressa was charged for three counts of violation of Section 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) for incorrect and inaccurate information on income tax return for 2015, and value-added tax returns for the third and fourth quarters of 2015.

She also faces one count of violation of Section 254 of the NIRC, also known as tax evasion.

Joseph Tristan Roxas

Ressa currently enjoys her provisional liberty after posting a P204,000-bail bond in December 2018.

The veteran journalist had argued that the CTA has no jurisdiction over her and Rappler Holdings because of a pending motion for reconsideration on indictments filed by the Department of Justice.

Ressa said an administrative case is also pending against her before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court, which she cited as separate grounds for the CTA not to hear her case.

But the CTA denied the quashal motion of Ressa, saying her pending administrative case at the Pasig RTC bears no weight in the P70.2-million tax proceedings.

Fair court

Ressa said this is her first arraignment among the 11 pending investigations and cases filed against Rappler. She, nonetheless, lauded the CTA for its fairness.

"The presiding judge was very professional on all sides. So, I'm happy with this in that sense and I'm hoping for justice... I hope that it is resolved sooner rather than later and we can all go back to work," Ressa told reporters.

"This is my first time to be arraigned and sitting there and thinking about it makes me slightly angry. So, my anger management is still there. But seeing the professional way it was handled on both sides, I would say," she added.

Her lawyer, Eric Recalde, said the legal team of Ressa is confident they can secure an acquittal from the CTA.

"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," Recalde said. — RSJ, GMA News