Ressa arrest a timely reminder of the value of a free press
THE ARREST of Rappler CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa hardly came as a shock to anyone even remotely aware of the recent issues surrounding the news website, most especially Ressa herself, who has taken a beating from both the administration and the public in the years since Duterte took office for Rappler’s critical coverage of the Duterte regime.
While the government was busy scrutinizing the law in search of loopholes to get Ressa behind bars, the public gladly did Duterte’s bidding by placing her at the center of a social media persecution in which she and the start-up she founded were the usual targets of ruthless and relentless insults and often baseless accusations.
While the comments and tweets might have been easy to simply ignore, the legal actions eventually taken...
