Journalist Maria Ressa is one of the most controversial women today. In the span of almost two months, she was arrested by the government for various cases. This came shortly after Pres. Rodrigo Duterte had been critical of her company, Rappler. Not suspicious at all.
Despite that, Maria was named a TIME Person of the Year in 2018, along with other journalists who are holding the line and reporting the truth. Now, she’s part of the publication’s list of 100 most influential people.
Maria gave a speech at the TIME 100 Gala earlier today where she talked about the cases against her and her recent arrests. “[The] only thing I’ve done, my only crime is to be a journalist, to speak truth to power,” she said.
She also talked about the similarities between Duterte and US president Donald Trump. “Well, it’s ironic that even though our two nations are almost exactly across the world from each other, our leaders have the same style,” she said. “They’re macho, populist styles, sexist at best, misogynistic at worst. Our leaders, these leaders use anger and fear to divide and to conquer, they create and they live a politics of hate.”
This is further proof that Maria Ressa is a woman who will never be silenced by threats or intimidation, especially if it means exposing the truth about the injustices in our country.
Watch Maria’s full speech below:
Photo courtesy of TIME‘s Instagram account
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