NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. Rappler CEO Maria Ressa formally received her Nobel Peace Prize award in Oslo, Norway on December 10. Screencap by Joann Manabat.
MABALACAT CITY – Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa, on Friday, made history as the first Filipino to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
Ressa is the 18th woman to receive the prestigious award throughout its 120 year history. She received the award together with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov for their “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Ressa started her acceptance speech with a reminder to “bring truth and hold power to account” as she cited journalists who have suffered and died in the line of duty including Tacloban journalist 23-year old Frenchie Mae Cumpio who is still in jail and the brutal killing of Kapampangan newsman Jess Malabanan who was shot dead on December 8.
“I stand before you, a representative of every journalist around the world who is forced to sacrifice so much to hold the line, to stay true to our values and mission: to bring you the truth and hold power to account,” said Ressa.
“I remember the brutal dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, my friend, Luz Mely Reyes in Venezuela, Roman Protasevich in Belarus (whose plane was literally hijacked so he could be arrested), Jimmy Lai languishing in a Hong Kong prison, Sonny Swe, who after getting out of more than seven years in jail, started another news group and now is forced to flee Myanmar. And in my own country, 23-year-old Frenchie Mae Cumpio, still in prison after nearly two years, and just 36 hours ago, the news that my former colleague, Jess Malabanan, was killed with a bullet to his head,” she furthered.
A journalist for more than 35 years, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a digital-only news website in the country in 2012. Ressa called out tech giants “with god-like power, the new gatekeepers” as it has “allowed a virus of lies” and “brought fears, anger, hate, and setting the stage for the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world.”
“What happens on social media doesn’t stay on social media. Online violence is real world violence,” Ressa stressed. “Our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritized by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us.”
The Pampanga Press Club and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Pampanga lauded Ressa for the award.
PPC president Noel Tulabut said PPC takes pride in Ressa in her fight for freedom of the press.
“On behalf of the PPC, we join our country and the whole media industry in the world in congratulating Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, for being the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Tulabut.
“The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Rappler CEO Maria Ressa highlights the importance and crucial role of the free press in pursuit of democracy and long-lasting peace,” shared Justine Dizon, NUJP Pampanga chapter.
Both Ressa and Muratov are known for their investigations in the face of authoritarian political leaders in their country and their fight for a strong democracy and protection of freedom of expression.
