Rappler CEO and Duterte critic arrested over foreign ownership charges

March 28 (UPI) -- News organization CEO, journalist and Time magazine's 2018 "Person of the Year" Maria Ressa was arrested Friday for having allegedly violated Philippine's anti-dummy law.

Ressa, who is also Rappler's executive editor, was served a warrant by two female police officers after having deplaned at Manila's international airport at 7 a.m.

"Will they actually arrest me again!?" she said in a tweet. "This is insane. Such violations of the Bill of Rights and the [Phillipine's] Constitution."

Her arrest comes a day after the Pasig Regional Trial Court issued the warrant while she was in the United States alleging her news organization is foreign owned and operated, charges she and Rappler have denied.

Rappler said the charges stem from a complaint by the National Bureau of Investigation, stating the company violated the country's anti-dummy law when it issued Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign investor Omidyar Network.

The Philippine's Constitution says that media companies must be wholly Filipino owned, which Rappler says it is.

"Rappler is -- on paper and in reality -- a completely Filipino-owned company," Ressa had previously said.

Ressa said in a tweet before landing that the charges against her are "ridiculous."

"I didn't expect the [Philippine's] government to make my joke about collecting arrest warrants a reality. This will be my 7th. For being a journalist. All these acts violating the Bill of Rights will be remembered," she said.

Arrest warrants were also issued for its managing editor and five of its 2016 board members, Rappler said.

Ressa's arrest comes a month after she was arrested for cyber libel charges.

She is currently battling 7 active court cases while it is the 11th case overall against Rappler and its staff since January 2018.

Ressa and Rappler have long been critics of Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte and the arrests are viewed as a way to intimidate and silence the media organization as well as other journalists.

"This is a travesty of justice," Ressa said. "I have done nothing wrong. I am not a criminal. I am treated like a criminal."

Rappler and Ressa's history of legal issues started in January 2018, when the news organization's license was revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ressa and the others accused in the latest case each posted the $1,716 bail.

"Journalists doing their jobs will not be intimidated," Rappler said in a statement. "We will continue to #HoldTheLine."