Maria Ressa

Early life

Ressa was born in Manila on October 2, 1963. Ressa's father, Phil Sunico Aycardo, a Chinese-Filipino, died when she was one year old. She grew up speaking only Tagalog and studied at St. Scholastica's College in Manila. Her mother, Hermelina, then moved to the United States, leaving Ressa and her sister with their father's family, but would visit her two children frequently. Subsequently, her mother married an Italian-American man named Peter Ames Ressa and returned to the Philippines. She brought both of her children to New Jersey when Ressa was 10 years old. Ressa was adopted by her stepfather and she took his last name. Her parents then relocated to Toms River, New Jersey, where she went to Toms River High School North, a public school. Though she barely spoke English when she moved to New Jersey, she went on to be a three-time president of her high school class and a performer in school plays. The school named its newly renovated auditorium after her in 2021.

Her yearbook profile included her dream to conquer the world. Ressa studied at Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English and certificates in theater and dance in 1986. Her 77-page-long senior thesis titled "Sagittarius" was an allegorical play about Philippine politics. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study political theater at the University of the Philippines Diliman where she also taught several journalism courses as a faculty member.

Career

Ressa's first job was at government station PTV 4. She then co-founded independent production company Probe in 1987, and simultaneously served as CNN's bureau chief in Manila until 1995. She then ran CNN's Jakarta bureau from 1995 to 2005. As CNN's lead investigative reporter in Asia, she specialized in investigating terrorist networks. She became an author-in-residence at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) of Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

From 2004, Ressa headed the news division of ABS-CBN, while also writing for CNN and The Wall Street Journal. In September 2010, she wrote a piece for The Wall Street Journal criticising the then president Benigno Aquino III handling of the bus hostage crisis. This piece was published two weeks before Aquino's official visit to the United States. Speculations were rife that this, among other reasons, finally led to Ressa leaving the company in 2010, after deciding not to renew her contract.

Ressa is a fellow at the Initiative on the Digital Economy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a 2021 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School. As a professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University's Institute of Global Politics, Ressa leads projects related to artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy.

In 2023, she joined The Intercept board of directors.

Books

She is the author of three books concerning the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia—Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center (2003) and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism (2013). and How to Stand Up To a Dictator (2022).

Teaching

Ressa has taught courses in politics and the press in Southeast Asia for Princeton University, and broadcast journalism for the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Rappler

Ressa established the online news site Rappler in 2012 along with three other female founders and with a small team of 12 journalists and developers. It initially started as a Facebook page named MovePH in August 2011, evolving into a complete website on January 1, 2012. The site became one of the first multimedia news websites in the Philippines and a major news portal in the Philippines, receiving numerous local and international awards. She serves as the Executive Editor and Chief Executive Officer of the news website.

"Real Content Oversight Board"

On September 25, 2020, Ressa joined the 25-member Real Facebook Oversight Board, an independent watchdog group established to provide public commentary on Facebook's content moderation policies and role in civic life.

UN Internet Governance Forum

Ressa was among the ten members of the leadership panel appointed in August 2022 in support of the United Nations' Internet Governance Forum, an annual discussion focusing on addressing issues concerning the internet.

Issue One – Council for Responsible Social Media

In October 2022, Ressa joined the Council for Responsible Social Media project launched by Issue One to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

Legal issues

Ressa first interviewed Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th president of the Philippines, in the 1980s when he was mayor of Davao. She again interviewed him in 2015 during his presidential election campaign, where he confessed to killing three people when he was mayor. Under her leadership, Rappler has been consistently critical of Duterte's policies, especially his policies on the war on drugs with their stories demonstrating that the abuses were being carried out by the police with Duterte's approval. The website under her stewardship also wrote about the alleged pro-Duterte online "troll army" which according to their article, were pushing out fake news stories and manipulating the narrative around his presidency.

In July 2017, in his State of the Nation Address, Duterte declared Rappler to be "fully owned" by the Americans and hence in violation of the constitution. He also said, "Not only is Rappler's news fake, it being Filipino is also fake." Subsequently, in August 2017, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated an investigation against Rappler and demanded to check its documents. In January 2018, it revoked Rappler's license to do business. The case went to the court of appeals, where it was remanded back to the SEC for having no basis. Duterte told a Rappler reporter in 2018: "If you are trying to throw garbage at us, then the least that we can do is explain – how about you? Are you also clean?" The government under his leadership revoked the site's operating license.

Arrest and conviction

On January 22, 2018, Ressa appeared before the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to comply with a subpoena over an online libel complaint under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which the administration of Rodrigo Duterte has wielded to punish criticism of the President and his allies. The subpoena was issued on January 10 to Ressa, together with former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos, and businessman Benjamin Bitanga. The subpoena was filed in October 2017 by a Filipino–Chinese national, Wilfredo Keng, after Rappler published a story on Keng's alleged lending of his sports utility vehicle to now-deceased Chief Justice Renato Corona as a bribed form of favor. Though the article was written in 2012 before the act criminalizing cyberlibel was signed into law by Benigno Aquino III, the Department of Justice considered it republished after a typographical error was corrected in 2014. In 2019, human rights lawyers Amal Clooney, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, and Can Yeğinsu joined the legal team (consisting of international and Filipino lawyers) defending Ressa. The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), which is the main human rights law firm in the Philippines, led by Atty. Theodore O. "Ted" Te, managed the legal team of Ressa during her different cases.

In November 2018, the Philippine government announced that it would charge Ressa and Rappler's parent company, Rappler Holdings Corporation, with tax evasion and failure to file tax returns. The charge concerns the investment in Rappler by the Omidyar Network in 2015. Ressa has denied wrongdoing, originally stating that the foreign money was "donated" to its managers, later stating the investments were in the form of securities. Rappler issued a statement denying any wrongdoing. The Bureau of Internal Revenue, after a study of Ressa's explanation, ruled that Rappler's issuance of securities-generated capital gains was taxable. It concluded that Rappler evaded payment amounting to ₱133million in taxes.

On February 13, 2019, judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch #46 issued the arrest warrant for "cyber libel" against Ressa for an article published on Rappler. The officials of the NBI fulfilled this warrant filed under the charge of cyber libel. The "cyber libel" law was passed after the article was originally published, so the charge was based on the technicality that fixing a typo might be considered "republishing". The arrest was live-streamed by many of Rappler's senior reporters on Facebook.

Due to time constraints, Ressa was unable to post bail amounting to ₱60,000 ($1,150) resulting in her arrest and confinement within the (holding) board room office of the NBI building. A total of six lawyers, two pro bono, were assigned to work on her case. On February 14, 2019, at the executor proceeding of Manila city Judge Maria Teresa Abadilla, Ressa gained freedom by posting bail at ₱100,000 ($1,900).

Ressa's arrest was criticized by the international community. As Ressa is an outspoken critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, many viewed the arrest as being politically motivated. In contrast, the official spokesperson for the Malacañang Palace denied any government involvement in the arrest, asserting that the lawsuit against Ressa was set forth by a private individual, the plaintiff Wilfredo Keng.

Madeleine Albright, a former U.S. Secretary of State, issued an opinion stating that the arrest "must be condemned by all democratic nations". Similarly, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines called it "a shameless act of persecution by a bully government".

The National Press Club, an organization accused of having close ties to the Duterte regime and with a long history of criticizing the Rappler organization, has stated that the arrest was not harassment, and that Ressa should not be relegated to "the altar of press freedom for martyrdom". It also warned against politicizing the issue.

Ressa's trial on charges of cyberlibel began in July 2019. In a statement she made on the first day of her trial, Ressa said: "This case of cyberlibel stretches the rule of law until it breaks."

Ressa was found guilty on June 15, 2020. In her ruling, Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa argued that Rappler "did not offer a scintilla of proof that they verified the imputations of various crimes in the disputed article... They just simply published them as news in their online publication in reckless disregard of whether they are false or not." The judge also quoted Nelson Mandela, saying, "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." Sheila Coronel, director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, argued that the conviction is representative of "how democracy dies in the 21st century."

Ressa faced between six months and six years in prison and a fine of ₱400,000 ($8,000). Ressa warned that her conviction could augur the end of freedom of the press in the Philippines. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque asked the media to "respect the decision" and said Duterte was still committed to free speech, while Vice President Leni Robredo described the conviction as a "chilling development" and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said it "basically kills freedom of speech and of the press." Internationally the ruling was criticized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders. In its statement condemning the sentence, Reporters Without Borders described the legal proceedings against Ressa as "Kafkaesque".

On January 15, 2023, 12 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including all of the 2022 laureates and her fellow 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, issued an open letter to President Marcos requesting him to "assist in bringing about a rapid resolution to the unjust charges against Maria Ressa and Rappler."

In January 2023, the Court of Tax Appeals acquitted Ressa and Rappler of four tax evasion charges, stemming from the 2018 case. Ressa was acquitted of a fifth tax evasion case in September 2023. Ressa's court conviction for cyberlibel and the Securities and Exchange Commission's order for Rappler to shut down are under appeal .

The Supreme Court of the Philippines First Division's resolution dated January 24, 2024, granted Irene Khan's Motion for Leave to Intervene, to sit as an "amicus curiae" or chosen Expert and it also admitted and noted her amicus brief submitted through attorney Rodel Taton. According to Khan's brief, she was "concerned" that the law in the country fails to adequately protect the right to freedom of expression, citing Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Philippines is a member. The brief also alleged that the country's Anti-Cybercrime Law "raises serious concerns that it limits the ability of journalists to expose, document and address issues of important public interest, thereby violating the right to receive and impart information." The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute was also permitted to submit its legal opinion “by way of special appearance” through attorney Maria Cristina Yambot, in Ressa and Reynaldo Santos' case.

In her 5th tax evasion case, Ressa was acquitted by the Court of Tax Appeals Second Division, in its 17-page judgment promulgated on July 16. It denied SG Menardo Guevarra's certiorari and sustained Pasig RTC Branch 157, Presiding Judge Ana Teresa Cornejo-Tomacruz's junking of the case in September 2023.

On June 13, 2025, Ressa and five other Rappler executives were acquitted by a court in Pasig of violating restrictions on foreigners owning companies under the Anti-Dummy Law. Communication scholar DC Alviar says that Ressa and Leila de Lima's acquittals inspire confidence in truly serving the interest of justice, particularly in the case of young journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been languishing in jail for years.

Awards and recognition

Ressa has won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, the Asian Television Awards, TOWNS – Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (Philippines) and TOYM Philippines.

• In 2010, Esquire proclaimed Ressa the Philippines' "sexiest woman alive," explaining: "Despite her size, fearless enough to write an eyewitness account of Al-Qaeda."
• In 2015, the Philippine Movie Press Club awarded Ressa with an Excellence in Broadcasting Lifetime Achievement award at the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television.
• In 2016, she was listed as one of the eight most influential and powerful leaders in the Philippines by Kalibrr.
• In November 2017, Ressa, as the CEO of news organization Rappler, accepted the 2017 Democracy Award awarded by the National Democratic Institute to three organizations at its annual Democracy Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., entitled "Disinformation vs. Democracy: Fighting for Facts".
• In May 2018, Ressa received the Knight International Journalism Award, where she was described as "an intrepid editor and media innovator who holds a spotlight to the Philippine government's bloody war on drugs."
• In June 2018, Ressa received the World Association of Newspapers's Golden Pen of Freedom Award for her work with Rappler.
• In November 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded Ressa with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award in "recognition of her journalistic courage in the face of persistent official harassment."
• In December 2018, she was included in Times Person of the Year 2018, as one of "The Guardians", a number of journalists from around the world combating the "War on Truth." Ressa is the second Filipino to receive the title after former President Corazon Aquino in 1986.
• In February 2019, Ressa received the Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Award together with Bishop Pablo Virgilio David from the Tañada-Diokno College of Law at De La Salle University and the Jose W. Diokno Foundation, as presented by Dean Chel Diokno.
• In April 2019, she was included in Times 100 Most Influential People in the World.
• In May 2019, Ressa won the Columbia Journalism Award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the school's highest honor, "for the depth and quality of her work, as well as her courage and persistence in the field."
• In June 2019, Ressa received the Canadian Journalism Foundation's Tribute honour, which recognizes a journalist who has made an impact on the international stage.
• In October 2019, Ressa was named on the BBC's list of 100 Women.
• In April 2021, Ressa won the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
• In November 2022, Ressa received an honorary degree from MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada.
• In February 2022, Ressa received Princeton University's highest undergraduate alumni honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award.
• Ressa is a recipient of the Washington DC based Transatlantic Leadership Network 2022 "Freedom of the Media" award for Explanatory Reporting.
• In June 2023, Ressa received an honorary degree in sociology from the Ateneo de Manila University after giving the commencement speech.
• In 2024, Ressa was named Harvard University's commencement speaker. Her selection drew her into the controversy of on-campus protests about the Gaza war. In the speech, she stated, "I was attacked online and called antisemitic, by power and money. Because they want power and money. While the other side was already attacking me because I had been onstage with Hillary Clinton. Hard to win, right?" Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard walked off the stage.
• Ressa is the 2024 Cannes LionHeart recipient, Simon Cook, CEO announced. She was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at Debussy Stage on June 21, 2024.
• In 2025, Ressa won a Missouri Honor Medal from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Nobel Peace Prize

Main article: 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

Ressa was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by prime minister and leader of the Norwegian Labour Party Jonas Gahr Støre. On October 8, 2021, Ressa was officially announced as the recipient of the prize alongside Dmitry Muratov of Russia. They were awarded the prize "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace". Ressa and Muratov are the first journalists since 1935 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Personal life

Ressa is openly lesbian.

In May 2024, US Congresswoman Elise Stefanik accused her of antisemitism for a Rappler editorial that likened Israel to Hitler. Ressa cofounded Rappler in 2012 and leads it as CEO. An earlier comment Ressa made about "money and power" was also criticized by a Harvard Rabbi. Ressa has forcefully denied the antisemitism allegations.

Published works

• From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism. Imperial College Press. 2013. ISBN 978-1908979537.

References

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