MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Online news website Rappler on Wednesday asked Malacañang to lift the ban on its reporters, a year since they were prohibited from covering Palace events.

In a letter addressed to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the news website said the ban violates “a basic constitutional principle that no law or rule should be passed abridging the freedom of the press.” 

CEO Maria Ressa added that Rappler cannot continue to use Google and its online search mechanisms or Wikipedia to gather facts and juicy rumors about Duterte and his administration.  “We are committed to first-hand reporting and we can only do that if our star reporters like Pia Ranada are allowed back in Malacañang premises.”

In response, Medialdea said his office cannot favorably act on the request because Rappler is not considered a media company.  “It is a dealer in stocks,” he said. “Let’s leave the Malacañang coverage to the legitimate press,” he added.

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chonicles, Manila Bureau) – Reacting to a Manila Times column depicting Rappler CEO Maria Ressa as an American using her dual citizenship for political and business motives, Senator Grace Poe today said she wants to amend the Constitution to ban dual citizens from owning Philippine media.

The current law is clear about media ownership being restricted to Philippine citizens or corporations 100%  owned by Filipinos.

Poe, who herself was a U.S. citizen but renounced her American citizenship to run for Senator, said it has become apparent that Ressa is using her Philippine citizenship to legally operate her online news source while also using her American citizenship to attack the Philippine government, CIA-style.

The Adobo Chronicles reached out to Ressa for comment and all she said was “I thought Senator Poe and I were friends?”

So will Ressa now turn Rappler into a stock broker?