THE ridiculously funny—yet sickening—report that greeted the country’s journalism profession last week was the announcement that Maria Ressa, founder of online news site, ‘Rappler,’ was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian journalist, Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov, founder of ‘Novaja Gazeta.’
The Nobel Prize was a legacy left behind by Alfred Nobel, who became rich after inventing, among others, the dynamite in 1867 and perfecting one of the world’s most accurate (and therefore, deadly) artillery pieces, the ‘Bofors’ cannon.
Described during his lifetime as a ‘Merchant of Death’ for his inventions that focused on mass killing during armed conflicts, Nobel decided to bequeath his wealth on his death to the founding of an award body that would, in effect, “cleanse” his memory. After all, to be called a “killer” and a “murderer” is a description that would go with you even if hell freezes over.
Well, Alfred Nobel is long dead– he died in December 1896. In short, he no longer has any control as to how his desire for a “deodorized legacy” would be interpreted by Nobel Prize Committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway.
And if the present committee believed it had complied with Nobel by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Ressa, he must have been turning on his grave by now.
The “justifications” used by the committee points to the conclusion that Nobel’s legacy has just been used to advance the political aim of the West against leaders they find it hard to agree with—Pres. Vladimir Putin of Russia and Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, as pointed out by respected Filipino journalist, Rigoberto Tiglao, in his column at the Manila Times last October 11, 2021.
Indeed, as the Nobel press statement puts it, Ressa was awarded over Rappler’s “critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.”
And if Tiglao’s other assertion that Ressa got the award due to the “manipulation” of US Imperialism, we agree with his view that Ressa and Rappler have been designated by the West to play a major role in the coercion of the Philippine government, the next administration in particular. Say, our becoming an “enemy” of China and going “soft” on the CPP-NPA?
F. Sionil Jose, Ramon Magsaysay awardee for journalism, in his social media post last October 9, 2021, also distilled the majority opinion of any self-respecting Filipino journalist when he stated that Ressa “does not deserve the Nobel.”
For why should someone of just above average journalism experience, is never ashamed to show her puppetry to Western interests, never denied that she is an American citizen and callous in her treatment of the rule of law and the Constitution when she admitted Rappler is being funded by foreigners in violation of the law, be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
And yes. Ressa and Rappler are unrepentant in spreading lies on the government’s war on illegal drugs, in the process making it “controversial” in the world’s opinion. Can there be “peace” when Ressa and Rappler only promote social division not social cohesion, disunity not unity?
If subservience and truth-bending is now the standard by which Filipino journalists are to be recognized in the world stage, we say, thank you, but no.