A Thousand Cuts. And still going strong. Fearless. Committed.
That is the state of Philippine news site Rappler and especially its founder, veteran journalist Maria Ressa, amidst numerous attacks and accusations by current president Rodrigo Duterte for telling “lies”, especially on the controversial war on drugs, the number one most controversial agenda of the administration.
Duterte has been likewise accused for being “the biggest threat to Philippine journalism”, as he bad-mouths news organizations and journalists that are critical of him, among the most being Rappler, that dreaded his presidency ever since he sat in office back in 2016. Since then, Rappler has committed to providing investigative and thorough journalism regarding his war on drugs, a program that is said to be the president’s “biggest human rights violation” as it has so far claimed thousands and thousands of lives, including innocent ones, even minors.
Duterte’s arrogance against the media is highly emphasized during an event where he bluntly verbally attacks Pia Ranada and the media company where she works for labeling Rappler as a “fake news site” and other false accusations, to the point where, just because Duterte, as a president, feels entitled to absolute power, even bans Rappler from Malacańang coverage.
And there’s this Mocha Uson, a “sexy” entertainer who is likewise a die-hard follower of Duterte, who spreads B.S. propaganda about the current government who caters to her fellow DDS, where a lot of the community believe in her. And with so much more fake news sites dedicated to Duterte proliferating, quality journalism is under threat.
Just last year, on May 2020, Duterte had not renewed the franchise of ABS-CBN, leading to the network’s shut-down off air, seen as one of the president’s most disrespectful acts towards the media so far. His government likewise filed numerous cases against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa for alleged “cyberlibel”, which the journalist insists that she never commited such malicious act. Their only commitment to the Filipinos was to deliver quality in-depth journalism and uncover the truth, especially on the administration’s drug war.
The fact that Ressa has been acclaimed by numerous organizations worldwide for fearless journalism and her bravery amidst relentless attacks by the government, just shows how unfazed Ressa is everytime she and her news organization faces threats and bullying by the regime and its die-hard disciples, committing to citizens a truthful, fearless journalism.
And until now, Rappler is still going strong and is still continually critical of Duterte and his government, showing no B.S. in their views and editorials. Until Duterte ends his term in 2022 and the next sitting president brings back true democracy and press freedom, will such state here in the Philippines still be among the worst in the world.
And here, really, is to hoping that a non-ally of the wannabe dictator gets to replace him next year, one who respects press freedom and to ensure that a truly clean government is to be delivered to the people, and bring back the quality of democracy reminiscent of 1986.
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