The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has disallowed Maria Ressa, one of the foremost critics of the Duterte administration, from traveling to the United States due to COVID-19.
The CTA Second Division affirmed the decision of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) denying the travel petition of Maria Ressa, chief executive officer of the online news media Rappler, to attend media-related conferences in the US.
The Filipina-American investigative reporter argued that the RTC decision violated her constitutional right to travel.
But the tax court said the right to travel is not absolute and maybe curtailed by law, citing in this particular case the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.
The 40-page decision penned by Associate Justice Juanito Castaneda Jr. stated the law restricts both foreign and local travels to stop the spread of the global health crisis.
It said Maria Ressa’s motion to travel from August to September 2020 was still within the travel ban period, although the case has become moot.
It said the RTC resolution pertains to a limited and specific period and does not prohibit her from filing the same motion when the health crisis subsides.
The court also noted that before the pandemic, the RTC allowed her to travel abroad several times after posting P1.2-million bail bond.
The petitioner is facing tax evasion charges before the Pasig RTC for allegedly not declaring to the Bureau of Internal Revenue the sale of shares of stocks of Rappler in 2015.
She was previously convicted of cyber libel by the Manila RTC. (Jun Ramirez)
