Ni Kier James Hernandez

PHOTO: New York Post

Bumuwelta si veteran journalist at Rappler CEO Maria Ressa sa naging pagbati sa kaniya ng Malacañang kaugnay sa makasaysayang pagkapanalo niya ng Nobel Peace Prize. 

Idiniin ni Ressa na may kasama pang pangtitira at pagpapaalala ng kanyang cyberlibel charges ang naging pagpupugay sa kaniya ng palasyo, nitong Lunes. 

"I suppose, thank you, and then what I didn't appreciate is, almost hand-in-hand, it came with a hit,"  ani Ressa sa panayam sa kaniya ng ABS-CBN TeleRadyo. 

"Hand-in-hand with that [praise] was this reminder -- which is a lie -- that the cyberlibel complaint is filed by an individual, and what the government repeatedly refuses to say is that it takes a government to actually file a criminal case,"  dagdag pa niya. 

Nitong Lunes lang, tatlong araw matapos mapanalunan ng nasabing mamamahayag ang naturang premyo, matatandaang binati ito ni Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque at sinabing tagumpay ito para sa mga 'Filipina'. 

"Binabati natin si Maria Ressa bilang kauna-unahang Pilipino na nagwagi sa Nobel Peace Prize. It's a victory for a Filipina and we're very happy for that kasi wala naman pong utak-talangka dito sa Malacañang," pagbibigay-parangal ni Roque. 

Itinanggi naman ni Roque na hindi sampal para sa kasalukuyang administrasyon ang naging premyo ni Ressa ng Nobel Prize dahil wala naman daw na-'censor' na kasapi ng midya sa bansa. 

"There is no slap there because as everyone knows, no one has ever been censored in the Philippines," sambit pa ng tagapagsalita ng Pangulo. 

Iginiit din ni Roque na bagaman makasaysayan ang pagkapanalong iyon, isa pa rin daw siyang "convicted felon" sa sarili nitong bansa. 


'PH press censorship na pinabulaanan ni Roque, kinalampag ng NUJP' 

Mariing kinalampag naman ng National Union of Journalists of the Philippines ( NUJP) ang pagtanggi ni Presidential Spokesperson sa umano'y pagsensura sa paraan ng pamamahayag sa bansa. 

"Attorney Harry Roque, the Philippine Press has been under siege under your principal for the last five years, and if you refuse to listen to the journalists who you used to represent, just ask your former colleagues in the human rights community," wika ng samahan sa kanilang Facebook page post. 

"You are denying censorship of the Philippine press, which the rest of the world has recognized by standing with Filipino journalists to whom the Nobel Peace Prize belongs," sambit pa nila. 

Samantala, isa si Ressa sa dalawang mamamahayag na nagwagi ng nasabing award dahil umano raw sa kanilang "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace." 

Ayon sa Nobel Prize Management, ang isa pa na nanalo ng award ay si Dmitry Muratov ng Russia.