Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 24) — The Court of Appeals has denied the motion of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa seeking permission to travel abroad to visit her ailing mother.
In a decision dated Dec. 18 but released only on Thursday, the CA said Ressa was unable to provide pressing reason that her overseas trip was necessary.
“In view of Ressa’s failure to prove that her travel to the United States of America is necessary and urgent, coupled with the exceptional circumstances that warrant the restriction on her right to travel, there is no basis to grant her motion,” said the resolution.
The CA said her motion invoked humanitarian considerations because she wanted to provide “systems of care” to her mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2020.
However, the Office of the Solicitor General countered Ressa’s claim, saying the medical documents she attached to her motion showed her mother took well to the procedure given to her.
The CA added that “the medical abstract lacks any indication that Ressa is urgently needed in the USA.”
“Foremost, the document shows that her mother was seen on telemedicine, which literally means healing at a distance,” the CA said. “Also, the attending physician attested that her mother tolerated well the procedure performed to her.”
The CA noted that this request to travel abroad, the third filed, was connected to a previous motion.
“Considering that we have disposed of the second motion with finality through the November 16, 2020 resolution, this present and third urgent motion for permission to travel abroad ought to be dismissed because the same is tantamount to a second motion for reconsideration,” said the court.
Ressa has not yet issued an official comment on the CA’s decision.
