OSG Urges COMELEC To Junk MOA With Rappler

SolGen Calida: “The OSG, as its (Comelec’s) statutory counsel, has urged the Comelec to rescind the MOA within five days or until March 4.”

OSG — The Office of the Solicitor General urged the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to rescind the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the poll body and Rappler on providing election-related information on the May 2022 elections.

Solicitor General Jose Calida claimed in a statement that the MOA unlawfully gives Rappler access to confidential data on registered voters and the power to decide the election.

According to Calida, the MOA’s provisions are “problematic” for encroaching the poll body’s rights and power.

READ ALSO: COMELEC To Answer Nat’l Press Club’s Letter Of Protest vs Poll Body’s Partnership With Rappler

Calida also claimed that Rappler’s “history of disseminating unverified and sometimes, false claims” also render it unfit for fundamental purpose envisioned under the MOA.

“The OSG, as its (Comelec’s) statutory counsel, has urged the Comelec to rescind the MOA within five days or until March 4,” Calida said. “Otherwise, the OSG, as People’s lawyer, may have to file the necessary case in court to declare the nullity of MOA by March 7.“

Rappler, meanwhile, countered that it was Calida’s claims which were “fraught with falsehoods, innuendo, and hallucinations” because the poll body had similar partnerships with other media organizations.

According to Rappler, the MOA signed by COMELEC with Rappler is simply about helping the poll body ensure transparent elections and disseminate truthful information to voters.

Rappler also said that it has been partners with the poll body since the 2013 national and local polls.

“So Calida hallucinates when he says this is tantamount to Comelec sharing ‘power’ with Rappler and allowing its civic engagement arm, Move.PH, to ‘decide on all questions affecting elections.’ This claim reads like the column and social posts of the lobbyists of a presidential bet,” Rappler said.

In closing, Rappler thanked the poll body for engaging the media in the crucial political exercise in May 2022.

The poll body, for its part, said that Rappler’s alleged foreign ownership was still a matter pending with the courts and COMELEC wasn’t the proper venue to decide on the matter.

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