MANILA, Philippines – Sinuportahan ng Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) ang acquittal ni Nobel laureate Maria Ressa at kanyang online news company na Rappler Holdings Corp. (RHC) sa pinakahuli sa limang tax evasion cases nito.
Sa desisyon noong Hulyo 16, ibinasura ng CTA Second Division ang petition for certiorari na inihain ng Office of the Solicitor General noong Disyembre 2023 dahil sa “lack of merit.”
Layon ng petisyon na baliktarin ang desisyon ng Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) na nag-aabswelto kay Ressa at sa RHC sa tax evasion dahil sa bigo umanong pagpa-file at pagbabayad ng kanilang tamang taxable income para sa ikalawang quarter ng 2015.
Hiniling din nito na bayaran ang kanilang value-added tax (VAT) dues para sa nasabing period na nagkakahalaga ng P294,258.58, kasama ang surcharge at interest fees.
Ngunit ayon sa tax court, napag-alaman na “no grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction” sa bahagi ni Presiding Judge Ana Teresa Cornejo-Tomacruz ng Pasig RTC Branch 157 nang idismiss ang kaso noong Setyembre 12, 2023.
“Records show the petitioner (OSG) was given an ample opportunity to present its case … and was able to present and formally offer its evidence,” saad sa 15 pahinang desisyon.
“Absent any showing that there was mistrial that amounts to a denial of petitioner’s right to due process or that [Tomacruz] committed an error of jurisdiction in the appreciation of the evidence presented by the parties, certiorari will certainly not lie,” dagdag pa.
Ipinunto ng tax court na ang certiorari ay hindi nararapat na legal na hakbang para sa nais ng OSG na i-nullify ang desisyon ng RTC dahil ang
writ of certiorari ay ibinibigay kapag ang kaso ay “the trial court blatantly abused its authority … as to deprive it of its very power to dispense justice.”
Sa pagpapanatili ng RTC ruling, binanggit ng CTA sa 2006 Supreme Court decision, na nagpapaliwanag na “no grave abuse of discretion may be attributed to a court simply because of its alleged misapplication of facts and evidence, and erroneous conclusions based on said evidence.”
Dagdag pa, ang certiorari petition ay iniisyu lamang “to correct errors of jurisdiction, and not errors or mistakes in the findings and conclusions of the trial court.” RNT/JGC
