Philippines: Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa Hit With Yet Another Lawsuit

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Location: Philippines, Manila
Date: December 10, 2021

As Filipino journalist Maria Ressa headed to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, a new lawsuit was filed against her news outlet Rappler and six other news organizations by a senior member of the Philippines cabinet. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the persistent legal harassment of the award winning journalist, who has remained a fearless defender for the freedom of the press, free speech and right to information despite multiple attempts to silence her. We, along with the HoldtheLine Coalition, demand that all charges against the journalist are immediately dropped.

On Thursday, December 9, 2021, Maria Ressa arrived in Oslo, Norway to collect the prestigious prize bestowed upon her and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”

Maria, who has faced persistent state-backed legal harassment for her fierce reportage, managed to attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony despite the government’s attempt to prevent her from travelling abroad. She was permitted to travel to Oslo for five days after the courts thwarted the Duterte administration's block her travel and overruled the solicitor general’s contentions that the journalist was a flight risk. 

Ahead of her arrival in Oslo, however, a senior member of the Philippine cabinet filed a new libel against Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism, which Maria co-founded in 2012 and still heads. The individual complaints against Rappler CEO, Executive Editor Glenda M Gloria, Managing Editor Chay Hoflieña and reporter Aika Rey were filed by the Philippine Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi with the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office. 

This lawsuit makes the eighth active legal case against Maria brought by the state. Her legal battles in seven cases, including an appeal against her 2020 conviction for criminal cyber libel, in which she faces up to six years in prison, are still ongoing. The CFWIJ has closely followed the continued legal harassment of the journalist and press freedom fighter at the hands of the Duterte administration. Find our detailed timeline of the attacks on Maria and Rappler here. 

Responding to this recent lawsuit, Maria’s legal team published a statement, condemning the government’s continued persecution of the journalist. “The case is an embarrassment for the Philippines just days before Maria Ressa will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for courageous journalism in defiance of the government’s crackdown. And it is a reminder that the Philippines should take anachronistic criminal libel laws off its books,” said Amal Clooney, one of the lawyers representing Maria.

Maria has been a vociferous critic of the President Rodrigo Duterte’s government and the deadly “war on drugs” he launched in 2016 and for repeatedly holding power to account, the Nobel Laureate and her team have been targeted with a series of legal battles, investigations and online attacks. The repeated state-linked attacks on her have brought her on the frontlines of the fight to defend press freedom worldwide. In 2018 she was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for her struggle to ensure press freedom and free speech. 

This year the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized Maria as a representative of all journalists who stand for the right of freedom of expression at a time when democracy and freedom of the press are increasingly threatened around the world. 

Through her work Maria has raised critical concerns about the Duterte administration’s controversial and deadly anti-drug war. She and Rappler have also extensively documented how social media is being used to propagate fake news, manipulate public discourse and harass opponents. She has repeatedly used freedom of expression to expose abuse of power and growing authoritarianism in the Philippines, noted the committee announcing the Nobel Peace Prize for the senior investigative journalist.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is thrilled that Maria Ressa has been honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize. We congratulate Maria for this well deserved win and are pleased to see her attending the award ceremony in person despite attempts to block her travel. The fresh libel case against her is extremely concerning and deeply embarrassing for the Duterte administration, which remains unfettered in its attempts to intimidate her into silence. We call on the Philippines to immediately drop all remaining charges against Maria and end legal harassment of the journalist. Maria has repeatedly shown that she stands defiant, and tall, in the face of continued persecution and will remain a fierce defender of the freedom of the press and free speech. The Duterte administration would do well to remember that journalism is not a crime. 

 

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.

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