OSG formally seeks nullification of poll pact between Comelec, Rappler

The Office of the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to void the Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Rappler memorandum of agreement which authorized the news site to provide election-related information for the May 9 polls.

Solicitor General Jose Calida's Supreme Court filing came seven days after he warned the poll body that it would face a court case if it did not heed the OSG's call for the MOA to be rescinded.

In a statement, Calida repeated his claim that Rappler is a foreign corporation and as such, its participation in the Philippine elections thru the MOA was considered foreign interference - a violation of the country's election laws and the Philippine Constitution.

"Solicitor General Calida urges the Highest Court of the land to exercise its constitutional mandate to stop the numerous violations of the 1987 Constitution and other laws in the execution of the Rappler-Comelec MOA and to immediately issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)," read the OSG statement.

"Every Filipino deserves free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections. These will not be attained if Comelec is allowed to continue its void and unconstitutional partnership with Rappler," the OSG added.

Rappler had repeatedly stressed that it was a Filipino-owned entity and their Comelec MOA was the same pact that the poll body entered into with other media organizations to inform the electorate of factual poll-related information.

The Calida-led OSG, in its petition to the High Court, also cited the 2018 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling which, among other  matters, revoked Rappler's registration certificate as it was allegedly foreign-owned.

Rappler appealed the SEC ruling before the Court of Appeals (CA) where the matter was still pending.

SEC spokesperson Armand Pan said back in 2018 that Rappler could continue to operate pending the CA decision on their appeal because the SEC ruling was not final and executory.

In a March 7 article, Rappler also pointed out that one of Calida's arguments amounted to fact checks curtailed free speech because it restrained "the publication of fake content."

"It is like saying... the peddler of fake news is stripped of the right to express himself or herself [by fact checks,]" read the article.

As to Calida's claim that the Comelec had given Rappler access to the confidential precinct finder database without authority from the National Privacy Commission (NPC), Rappler countered that the agreement allowed only for Rappler to embed Comelec’s precinct finder.

"It’s like embedding a YouTube video or a Twitter post into a website," said Rappler.

Earlier, Rappler said that Calida's claims were fraught with falsehoods, innuendo, and hallucinations because Comelec had similar partnerships with other media organizations.

"The MOA signed by Comelec with Rappler is simply about helping the poll body disseminate truthful information to voters and ensure transparent elections. Rappler has been partners with the poll body since the 2013 national and local elections," Rappler had countered.

"So Calida hallucinates when he says this is tantamount to Comelec sharing 'power' with Rappler and allowing its civic engagement arm, Move.PH, to 'decide on all questions affecting elections.' This claim reads like the column and social posts of the lobbyists of a presidential bet."

For its part, the Comelec said the poll body would face OSG's challenge.

"We cannot do anything but face the music, answer the petition and defend the MOA that we signed with Rappler," acting Chairperson Socorro Inting said in a chance interview.

"Whatever decision that the court will render, we will abide [by it]," Inting added. — DVM, GMA News