Senator Ralph Recto on Tuesday, October 12, said he would vote for the grant of the Senate Medal of Excellence to Nobel laureate Maria Ressa.

The Senate President Pro Tempore, in a statement, said Ressa "satisfies all the conditions" in the resolution governing the conferment of the Senate award.

“But most important, it is the right thing to do. We cannot ignore an accolade which has been met with universal praise. Never has a Nobel winner been snubbed in his or her own homeland,” Recto told his colleagues.

He cited the Senate's practice of praising Filipinos who were recognized in their respective fields, jokingly calling the chamber a “commendable institution.”

“Mga beauty contest placers, may pinapasa na resolution of commendation. Manalo sa boxing, may resolution of commendation. Tapos itong Nobel prize, dededmahin natin (We pass resolutions of commendation for beauty contest placers. We pass resolutions of commendation for boxers? Why would we snub this Nobel Prize)?” he said.

“As a Filipino, I am proud that a compatriot has deservingly won the Nobel for work that is essential for democracy to flourish,” he said.

Recto acknowledged, though, that some of his colleagues to voice out reservations against the awarding of the Senate medal.

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, for instance, said on Monday that the Norweigan Nobel Committee was "wrong" to give Ressa the prestigious recognition on the basis of press freedom.

Dela Rosa, as former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), led the Duterte administration's controversial war on drugs.

But Recto said “being examined by a critical press is in the job description of a public official.”

“May kasabihan na (There is a saying that) 'a politician who complains against the press is like a ship captain who complains about the sea'. You can be pilloried and praised in equal doses. But the worst fate is to be ignored,” he maintained.

The Senate leader said he hopes that each of his colleagues will "demonstrate political sportsmanship".

The Senate Medal of Excellence, established in August, is given to Filipinos "for setting the highest standards of excellence, nationalism, and virtue that their fellow countrymen can aspire for."

Filipinos who are recipients of major international award giving bodies, namely, the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, the A.M. Turing Award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, or an Olympic medal are automatically qualified to receive the award.