Assault on truth
Maria Ressa, the Philippines’ most prominent journalist, was honored by Time magazine as a 2018 “Person of the Year” as among the world’s guardians of truth. Her pursuit of truth for the news website Rappler has made her the target of years of government threats and harassment, including phony accusations of fraud and tax evasion.
The efforts to silence her during the authoritarian rule of President Rodrigo Duterte took a chilling new turn Monday when she was convicted of “cyber libel” that could put her in jail for up to six years. The case against the Rappler CEO and Reynaldo Santos, a former staffer, stemmed from a 2012 article that linked a businessman to illegal activities.
Ressa, 56, has never been timid about going after the wealthy and powerful. She has been fearless in exposing Duterte’s false statements and his brutal war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings. The state of independent news coverage in the Southeast Asian nation has deteriorated to the point that it now ranks 136 out of the 180 nations in the World Press Freedom Index. In May, the nation’s most influential broadcaster, ABSCBN, was effectively shut down by the Duterte regime.
Through it all, Ressa, who holds dual U.S.Filipino citizenship, has remained unintimidated even as Duterte has labeled Rappler a “fake news outlet” and banned its journalists from his public engagements.
Ressa, now free on bail, plans to appeal.
Now it’s time for defenders of press freedom around the world to express their outrage. Journalism and humanrights groups are speaking out. Our nation’s leaders in Washington need to send the message that they are watching and object to this brazen attack on one of the pillars of democracy.