As of Thursday, a new president will rule in the Philippines who has an old name: Ferdinand Marcos Jr., called Bongbong – son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. For Maria Ressa’s investigative platform rappler but the work won’t be over. On the contrary. On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines (SEC) announced an order it first issued in January 2018: rappler should close. For violating restrictions on foreign ownership of media companies. The violation had already been corrected and the matter referred back.
Why is this renewed attack on President Rodrigo Duterte’s last day in office? Is this a final blow to his archrival? “I can’t read minds,” says Maria Ressa at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. rappler-Attorney Francis Lim adds that he will ask the SEC to reconsider. “It’s not the end of the world for us,” says Lim. But then Ressa says: “It’s like quicksand when you can no longer rely on the law.” The 58-year-old won the Nobel Prize last year for her courage in taking on the Duterte administration.
Was that it? “Rappler” employees follow their boss’s statement on a laptop.
(Photo: Aaron Favila/AP)
Duterte was particularly upset by an article in which the rappler had accused his closest associate of corruption in a procurement deal with the Navy. From then on, Duterte described the magazine as a “fake news outlet” and temporarily excluded its reporters from its press conferences. The future president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was also upset because of the rappler of course reported on the business of his family, who plundered the country and with it funded an effective election campaign, particularly on social media.
“We have to explain to Filipinos that the technology they use every day to read the news is biased against facts and journalism,” says Maria Ressa. “What is actually spreading is anger, hatred and conspiracy theories.” Facebook and Youtube are the dominant news channels in the Philippines, where daily screen time is also the highest in the world. Facebook had in the Philippines, among other things rappler engaged to conduct fact checks for dubious reports.
Ressa wants Duterte held accountable – and so does Facebook
The so-called troll army, which fueled the Marcos election campaign on social media, also attacked Maria Ressa personally. “Informal warfare is used here against individual journalists,” says Ressa. There have been half a million attacks against them on social media. “60 percent of it was aimed at destroying my reputation. 40 percent was intended to belittle me personally.” Ressa was already over 50 when this storm broke out. How are young journalists supposed to expose themselves to something like this in their country without going crazy? She not only wants to ensure that Rodrigo Duterte is finally held accountable after his term in office – but also Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. “Because they change society, they change humanity. Our culture, our actions in the real world.”
Liked to pose as a strong man – and acted ruthlessly against journalists: the previous President Rodrigo Duterte.
(Photo: Bullit Marquez/AP)
Under Rodrigo Duterte, ten cases were brought against Ressa and eight against rappler launched, all with the aim of shutting down the site. Aside from the current SEC ruling, Ressa and her magazine are currently facing five counts of tax evasion, one alleging breach of a straw man law and another involving cybercrime. The latest threat rappler The closing came just days after Internet regulators blocked two more news websites accused by the military of spreading communist propaganda. They mainly reported on trade unions and farmer groups.
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights is investigating thousands of cases of violence and abuse from the Duterte era, including against journalists. “Most have only criticized the government and are branded as communist terrorists. That’s dangerous in these times,” says human rights lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia. The media had come under severe pressure under Duterte’s presidency. During his tenure, the country’s largest television network, ABS-CBN, had its license revoked, also contributing to the news dominance of social media channels. Media and activists critical of his government or dissatisfied with Duterte were hunted down, mostly under pretense. Parallel worlds have emerged, especially in social media, whose inhabitants are convinced that they know and are doing the right thing. “But we have to keep working in the real world. Request access, report, go to court,” says Maria Ressa.
“We can only hope that things will get better,” said Maria Ressa on Wednesday
And: “There is an existential battle over the facts.” What could help in this battle? “Unity, for example,” says Ressa and laughs. The “unity” – the unity of the country, that was almost the only election message from Marcos jr. and his Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of Rodrigo Duterte. But of course Maria Ressa means the cohesion among journalists. Especially now that the new government is in office.
What Ferdinand Marcos Jr. political plans is rather unclear even after his election campaign.
(PHOTO: LISA MARIE DAVID/REUTERS)
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., strange as it sounds when you remember his father’s tyranny, was democratically elected, there is no evidence of vote rigging. Recent appeals to disqualify him for tax fraud were dismissed in court. He and his family want to restore the reputation of the Marcos and will then set about rewriting the recent history of the Philippines. And also rappler there are not many news channels left that will report critically about it. Hence the attack.
Still, there are a few political observers who can imagine that under Marcos jr. will be a little better than under Duterte. At least Marcos didn’t come to power with the image of the tough guy who personally hunts down drug dealers. In fact, he said so little politically that no one really knows what’s coming. “We can only hope that things will get better,” said Maria Ressa on Wednesday. “And the way it looks, the new government should actually want to prove that they want to work for a better future for the Philippines. And we’re ready for that.”