The Court of Appeals (CA) has shot down a bid by former ACT-CIS Party-list Representative Edvic Yap and Benguet Lone District Representative Eric Yap to silence business news website Bilyonaryo over its coverage of an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) freeze order involving their family and firm.
In an eight-page resolution promulgated on May 21, 2026, the CA’s Special Former Tenth Division dismissed the “Motion for Issuance of Gag and Show Cause Order on Bilyonaryo.com” lodged by the Yap family—Edvic, Eric, Edgar, and Victoria—together with Earth Yard Corporation.
The Yaps had accused the news portal of leaking “specific and non-public details” of the AMLC probe and subsequent freeze order, arguing that the reports breached confidentiality rules and subjected them to a “trial by publicity.”
The lawmakers sought a blanket ban to bar Bilyonaryo from publishing further updates on the case and demanded the media outlet disclose how it acquired copies of the court order.
Defending its reporting, Bilyonaryo—through its legal counsel Flaminiano Arroyo & Dueñas—hit back, stating the Yaps’ request lacked any legal basis under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). The news site argued that the sought gag order amounted to unconstitutional prior restraint, warning it would trigger an “indefinite press blackout.”
They further contended that freeze orders are not bound by blanket confidentiality and that similar proceedings have long been matters of public record.
The appellate court ultimately ruled in favor of the media outlet, pointing out that Bilyonaryo cannot be bound by the case’s restrictions because it is an outside party.
“With Bilyonaryo.com not being a party in the instant case, the Motion for Issuance of Gag and Show Cause Order on Bilyonaryo.com must be denied,” the CA resolution read.
The court further clarified that a gag order operates as an injunction in personam, meaning it can only bind the specific litigants involved in the lawsuit. Despite the junking of the motion, the CA noted that its decision “does not foreclose the filing of the proper action/remedy in court to thresh out the issues against the proper parties.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the Solicitor General, acting on behalf of the AMLC, clarified its stance to the appellate court, maintaining that it “never disclosed, furnished, or provided Bilyonaryo.com or any unauthorized person with any information on its investigations of respondents.”
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Angeline Mary W. Quimbo-Sale, with Associate Justices Pedro B. Corales and Ma. Consejo Mapa Gengos-Ignalaga concurring.