Tag: press freedom

Philippine Opposition still lacks a POPULAR united front critical to a 2022 win

May 20, 2021 benign0 4 Comments

“Dutertismo” is supposedly a label coined by the Philippine Opposition to encapsulate the character of the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. It is, of course, widely known that the character of the Duterte presidency is marked by strong words, a cult of personality, and a virulent nationalist sentiment. The latter — strong nationalism —…

Politics

Should Twitter and Facebook block Donald Trump?

January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 benign0 2 Comments

That question needs to be answered within the context of whether or not people who continue to listen to outgoing United States president Donald Trump and even heed his public calls actually have a collective grievance that needs to be responded to. As it stands, it is likely that blocking Trump would be the equivalent…

Media, Society

Rather than report the news, Rappler makes ITSELF the news

December 27, 2020December 27, 2020 benign0 2 Comments

Rappler “journalist” Nick Villavecer’s “report” where he sings praises to his own CEO Maria Ressa — a shareholder of his employer — is dishonest journalism because it is a blatant conflict of interest. In his piece “Attacks and harassment: Women journalists in the Philippines on the cost of truth-telling”, Villavecer cites a number of women…

Media

Maria Ressa is indeed a fraud

July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 benign0 1 Comment

No less than Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly said it. “Ressa is a fraud. Believe me,” Duterte said in a speech last Wednesday. Duterte evidently echoes growing public sentiment over (or, more likely, apathy toward) Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s incessant positioning of her person and that of her media organisation as hapless “victims” of an…

Crime, Media

@StephenSackur HardTalks Maria Ressa, tells her to GET REAL!

June 26, 2020July 8, 2020 benign0 14 Comments

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa may have suckered an entire Western news media industry into spreading her lies, but not Stephen Sackur, renowned hard-hitting investigative journalist and host of the BBC’s show Hard Talk. Cornering Ressa for such a talk, Sackur asks all the hard questions of Ressa; how, despite all her claims that a climate…

Media

Maria Ressa’s apologists continue to emotionally blackmail Filipinos into hating the system that convicted her

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 benign0 6 Comments

Here is why Rappler CEO Maria Ressa lost her case against Wilfredo Keng who, several years ago, filed a case of cyber libel against her and “reporter” Rey Santos Jr. She failed to make a strong case in her defense. Evidently, no lessons were learned. We can see this in a statement issued by the…

Media

“Free Speech. Yes. Falsehood, No.” – press statement of Wilfredo Keng on Maria Ressa’s conviction

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 benign0 5 Comments

(Official Statement of Mr. Wilfredo D. Keng on the final outcome of the Cybercrime of Libel criminal case filed against Reynaldo Santos, Jr., and Maria Angelita Ressa, of Rappler, Inc.) When I filed this private complaint more than three years ago, I knew that this was going to be a long and painful process for…

Crime, Media

#ABSCBN is TOAST after losing in Congress and losing in court!

May 20, 2020 benign0 2 Comments

It didn’t help that the Philippines’ erstwhile top mass media corporation initially attempted to frame its legal troubles in a dishonest way and, worse, tried to pervert the honour of no less than the Philippine Senate to its corporate ends. Even in the early days, it was like a cornered animal biting at everything around…

Business, Media