Mouab Breaking News
The office of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Monday (11/10), congratulated journalist Maria Ressa on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
A spokesman, Henry Roque, called it a “victory for a Filipino” but made no mention of Ressa’s investigative reporting on the Duterte administration.
Ressa founded the news website Rappler, which is currently battling various lawsuits in court over its reports of the drug war under Duterte’s instructions which has claimed many lives, and the government’s use of social media to target political opponents.
Duterte has described Rappler as a fake news medium and a CIA tool, while Ressa has dismissed Duterte’s statements as nonsense.
His award was the first Nobel Peace Prize for the Philippines and the first for a journalist since 1935.
Asked Monday what his message to Duterte would be, Ressa replied that he urged Duterte not to take a divisive and subdued approach to his political opponents.
Ressa shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, who also angered his government in Moscow after he exposed government corruption and wrongdoing. [ab/uh]
