Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo proudly congratulated journalist Maria Ressa for her Nobel Peace Prize award, saying it honors her “courage in service of others.”
The opposition leader said Ressa’s award is a testament to her courage to stand up for the truth "in the face of relentless efforts to undermine it".
Ressa, founder of Philippine news site Rappler, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on Dec. 10 along with Russian Dmitry Muratov, editor in chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
She is the first Filipino to win the Nobel Prize and the second journalist to get the world’s highest and most prestigious award.
Her Oslo trip was allowed by the Court of Appeals (CA)--- an authorization she had to get since she had pending cases in the Philippines.
READ: Rappler’s Ressa allowed to travel to Norway to personally receive 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
Ressa and her co-accused, Reynaldo Santos, were earlier found guilty by a Manila Court of cyber libel. They appealed the guilty verdict beforre the CA.
As the first Filipina Nobel laureate, Ressa was honored by the Vice President and thanked her for “bringing pride to our people".
“Maria was honored not only for telling the truth; she won the Nobel for carrying that truth forward in the face of harassment and abuse and an entire ecosystem built to strip it of its power,” Robredo said.
“In this, she reflects the highest ideals not only of journalism, not only of our people, but of all humanity: Courage in service of others,” she added.