Philippine Court Affirms Libel Conviction of Maria Ressa

Volume 4, Issue No. 4

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 

 Our latest as of Friday, July 15, 2022 

~ The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) has joined the bandwagon in condemning the Philippines for its alleged "legal persecution" of journalists following the upholding of the conviction of Maria Ressa for cyber libel in a case dating back to 2012. I had been a member of AAJA for many years while in California and upon receiving a copy of its declaration stating "grave concern", I reacted strongly against it because of what I consider a knee-jerk reaction of support for Ressa and her Rappler website. More than a day has passed and AAJA has not responded as of this writing. I said that her jail time of "six years, eight months and 20 days" is richly deserved. What she did not deserve is the Nobel Peace Prize.

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AAJA's KNEE-JERK DEFENSE OF MARIA RESSA

Taking Issue with Media Group on Rappler

Has the Asian American Journalists Association Become an Echo Chamber?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Disinformation is distinguished from misinformation in that it is intentionally fraudulent.” ― Ellen P. Lacter

TORONTO - From the 1990s to the time I moved to Toronto in 2010, I maintained my membership with the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) as a way of keeping in touch with media colleagues and the news development in my former hometown of San Diego, California. 

It's one of the clubs I associated with for professional reasons, the others being Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Reporters Without Borders (or Reporters sans frontières), and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC).

Prior to AAJA, I was also an active member of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and the National Press Club of the Philippines largely because of my work in both local and foreign news organizations based in Manila. 

Because I'm reacting to AAJA's position on the matter, I find it necessary to mention my credential as a journalist and to provide a buffer to the proliferation of pseudo-media persons in our community here in Toronto. Some flash press ID cards while others carry cameras to validate their spurious claims and enhance their prestige.

The other day, AAJA national joined its Asia chapter "in expressing grave concern over the decision of a Philippine court to deny the appeals of Maria Ressa, founder of Rappler, and its former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr., and uphold their convictions for cyber libel".

I'm taking issue with AAJA on this score for what I believe is its lack of background knowledge about Ressa and Rappler and why they were hailed to court. It is important to know the case before shooting its mouth off, as what appears to have happened to AAJA.

I learned about this only yesterday (July 14) from the AAJA mail update regularly sent to members. After reading it, my thought wondered whether AAJA has now become an echo chamber of Ressa and Rappler. So I wrote my reaction to AAJA national, as follows:

"I am prompted to write this letter as a practicing journalist, a former member of AAJA San Diego chapter, and a Filipino, in reaction to this expression of "grave concern" by the AAJA and its Asia chapter regarding the libel case of Maria Ressa of Manila-based Rappler.

"Reading through AAJA's statement, it is clear the organization has succumbed to Ressa's consistent but failed attempt to portray the Philippine government in a bad light. 

" "AAJA-Asia strongly condemns this sustained campaign of legal persecution against journalists," sounds like a generic declaration, "and calls on the new government (must be a reference to the Marcos Jr. administration) to drop the charges and foster a better environment for independent media".

"In fact, AAJA's declaration parrots the very same lies Ressa had used quite effectively in convincing her foreign supporters - meaning non-Filipinos, mostly Americans - enough to get noticed by the Nobel people and be named a recipient of its peace prize.

"A peace prize for fighting windmills, that's what it is. For the truth is that Ressa never fought for anything save her skin (no pun intended). 

"She thrives, Rappler thrives, and her enablers thrive mainly because the Philippine environment she demonizes allowed her and other journalists to exercise unbridled free expression. A free press exists in the Philippines except in Ressa's mind.

"AAJA's statement and I quote: "The article in question was published on May 29, 2012, months before the cybercrime law was enacted. Ressa was not even the editor of the piece".

"The paragraph above lacks context. True that the cybercrime law took effect on Sept. 12, 2012, and the article got published four months prior. But Rappler republished the offending article after the law's effectivity which means, according to the judge, that it was like being published every day.

"There is no question about supporting journalists anywhere who are harassed and threatened but the situation of Ressa is much different. I know that because I have fallen victim to some while practicing investigative journalism in California and Canada.

"Ressa is more of a political partisan than a journalist, more of an agent provocateur working on behalf of governments and shady institutions than an objective media person.

"Her jail time of "six years, eight months and 20 days" is richly deserved. What she did not deserve is the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Thank you.

"Romy Márquez". (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).