The Court of Appeals has upheld its earlier ruling to allow Nobel laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa to leave the country for a series of lectures in the United States.
Ressa left for Cambridge, Massachusetts on Sunday to attend lectures at the Harvard Kennedy School as part of the Hauser Leadership Program.
The travel period will be from October 31 to December 2.
“Ressa successfuly proved that she is not a flight risk. Corollarily, we cannot sustain the Office of the Solicitor General’s opposition grounded on Ressa’s dual citizenship and alleged lack of respect for the Philippine judicial system because the same is speculative as of now,” the appellate court said.
“Ressa has strong economic ties in the Philippines as she is the Chief Executive Office of Rappler, an online media platform based in the country,” it added
Ressa also intends to visit her parents in Florida, who she has not seen in the past two years.
“In sum, the granting of Ressa’s Urgent Motion to Travel Abroad is warranted by the necessity and urgency of her intended travel in the USA, humanitarian reasons, and sufficient evidence that she is not a flight risk,” the court said.
According to the 14-page resolution, Ressa was required to deposit a travel bond amounting to P500,000 within five days.
She was also required to submit an updated itinerary, including her travel to Florida within five days as well as to advise the court in writing her return to the country within 24 hours from arrival.
In August 2020, the CA denied Ressa’s motion to travel abroad.
“The previous denial of Ressa’s similar Motions is inconsequential to this present Urgent Motion to Travel Abroad,” the court said.
“Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that the previous Motions were denied because Ressa failed to prove the necessity and urgency of her supposed travels,” it added. -NB, GMA News
Maria Ressa leaves for lectures in US after CA says she’s not a flight-risk
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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