Solicitor General Jose Calida on Tuesday denied that President Rodrigo Duterte and other Palace officials "pressured" the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pursue charges against online news website Rappler.

"Nobody was urging anybody. That's why it took over a year for the SEC to probe (Rappler)," Calida said.

The Solicitor General said he had asked the SEC to investigate Rappler's compliance with ownership laws after he "read it (reports of possible foreign ownership) in the newspapers."

Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao, a former presidential spokesperson and chief of staff of then-President Gloria Arroyo, has written several times about Rappler's alleged foreign ownership.

"If you engage in the business of mass media you have to comply with the constitutional and statutory regulations because no one is above the law, even a powerful media. This is about the rule of law," Calida said.

"The constitutional bar on foreign ownership of Philippine media is both on 'ownership and control.' They (Rappler) forgot about the control," he added.

Calida said the SEC has yet to look into the case of other media entities that may also be violating the Constitution.

On Monday, the SEC revoked Rappler's incorporation papers for supposedly allowing foreign group Omidyar Network to have some control over the news website.

• Rappler's incorporation papers revoked by SEC

Under the 1987 Constitution, all media entities in the Philippines must be wholly-owned by Filipino citizens.

Rappler labelled the move as a form of "harassment" and said that the government is simply going after them for being a staunch critic of the President.

• Rappler cries harassment over SEC closure order
• Rappler journalists can still publish stories: Duterte spokesman

Rappler can still appeal the SEC's decision with the Court of Appeals. -- with a report from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News.