Philippines Allows Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa To Visit Norway

The United Nation on Monday had urged the Philippines to allow Ressa to travel to Norway next month to accept the award.

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, had said the United Nations was “very concerned” about travel restrictions placed on Ressa.

Ressa and Rappler

Former CNN correspondent Ressa co-founded the Philippine online news website Rappler in Manila in 2012 along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists.

It had started as a Facebook page named MovePH in 2011, before evolving into a complete website at the start of 2012.

Ressa’s supporters say she has been targeted for her scrutiny of government policies, including President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of mostly poor men have been killed in security operations.

Also read: Journalists Maria Ressa, Dmitry Muratov Win Nobel Peace Prize

Rappler published shocking images of the killings and posed questions about their legal basis.
The chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said Rappler has “focused critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.”

“The number of deaths is so high that the campaign resembles a war waged against the country’s own population,” Reiss-Andersen added.

Ressa and Rappler have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.

Slide down press freedom rankings

The Philippine government has denied persecuting the media and says it believed in free speech.

However, the 2021 World Press Freedom Index showed the Philippines dropping two notches to 138 out of 180 countries.

The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks the Philippines seventh in the world in its impunity index, which tracks the deaths of journalists whose killers go free.

The Philippine government has denied persecuting the media and says it believes in free speech.

Sources: AFP, Reuters