Maria Ressa is second Filipino named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is the second Filipino to be part of the prestigious “Person of the Year” roster of Time magazine after late President Cory Aquino in 1986.

Ressa, who is facing several tax evasion charges, joins the late Jamal Khashoggi, detained Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe and the Capital Gazette, a small newspaper, in Time’s list of “The Guardians.”

The group of journalists appear in four variant covers of the magazine.

Her inclusion came days after she posted bail of P204,000 for four of the five tax cases the government filed against her in 2018.

Filipino women named as “Person of the Year”

Time described Ressa and Rappler, the news website she helped establish in 2012, as fearless in their reporting of President Rodrigo Duterte’s propaganda machine on social media.

“While the Philippine government denies a political motivation for the charges against Ressa and Rappler, the news site she founded in 2012, international observers regard them as the latest salvo in President Rodrigo Duterte’s bid to muzzle critical press and silence criticism of his administration’s deadly war on drugs,” said Joseph Hincks.

Ressa told Time that being a journalist during Duterte’s presidency is more difficult than her work as a war zone correspondent before.

“I’ve been a war zone correspondent. I’ve planned coverage when one side is shooting against the other side. That is easy compared to what we’re dealing with now,” she said.

Her supporters use the hashtag #Holdtheline as they lauded her for the recognition.

This was her statement on the possibility of getting arrested upon her arrival in Manila on December 2. She went to the United States to receive the international Press Freedom Award given to her by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The veteran reporter had been indicted over three counts of violating Section 255 of the Tax Code for failing to provide the correct information on her Income Tax Return for 2015, Value Added Tax returns for the third and fourth quarters of that year.

Corazon Aquino

Back in 1986, Aquino, the wife of late Senator Ninoy Aquino, held many “first’s.” She was hailed as the first female president of the country and the first Filipino to be the Woman of the Year.

“Whatever else happens in her rule, Aquino has already given her country a bright, and inviolate, memory. More important, she has also resuscitated its sense of identity and pride,” said Time.

Aquino that time said that being given with such recognition is an achievement of the Filipino people.

“I don’t want to say that this is my achievement. It is the Filipino people together who were able to believe in themselves because of what they were able to do in the election and then in the revolution. Because of this belief in each other they were now also able to look up to their leaders and follow their leaders,” she said.

She succeeded late Dictator Ferdinand Marcos as the leader of the country after he and his family were exiled to Hawaii,

Her son Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III became president in 2016.

The Guardians and the War on Truth

Edward Felsenthal, Time’s editor-in-chief, explained that his team decided to feature journalists this year because of their bravery in surpassing risks just to tell impactful stories.

“This year we are recognizing four journalists and one news organization who have paid a terrible price to seize the challenge of this moment: Jamal Khashoggi, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Md.,” Felsenthal’s  statement read.

“They are representatives of a broader fight by countless others around the world—as of Dec. 10, at least 52 journalists have been murdered in 2018—who risk all to tell the story of our time,” he added.

Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist who was a known critic of the Saudi government, was murdered after entering his country’s Istanbul consulate for divorce documents.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Reuters journalists from Bangladesh, were detained in their home country for documenting the deaths of 10 Rohingya Muslims.

Five members of the Capital Gazette or the Capital, the local paper in the city of Annapolis in the state of Maryland, were gunned down inside their newsroom last June 28.

source: interaksyon.com

Iran's Rouhani: Khashoggi murder unthinkable 'without US backing'

Tehran - Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's "heinous murder" would have been unthinkable "without US backing," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on yesterday.

"I don't think that any country would dare do such a thing without US backing," Rouhani said in remarks to cabinet broadcast on state television.

Rouhani said that before Khashoggi's murder "it would have been unthinkable that in this day and age we would witness such an organised felony.

"It is extremely significant that an institution planned such a heinous murder.

"The tribal group that is ruling that nation (Saudi Arabia) has a security margin. That security margin is that it relies on US backing. It is this superpower that is backing them."


Khashoggi, a government critic who was living in self-imposed exile in the United States, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 as he organised the paperwork for his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.

The case has triggered an international outcry against Saudi Arabia. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ridiculed Riyadh's response as "one of the worst cover-ups" in history.

Iran had been silent about the Khashoggi case until Monday when its judiciary chief slammed Saudi Arabia over his death.

"This heinous murder further revealed the nature of Saudis, their kingdom and that young man who is seeking fame and murdering innocent people," Sadegh Amoli Larijani was quoted as saying by the judiciary's news agency Mizan Online, apparently referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

- 'Child-killing regime' -
Iran has closely followed the backlash its regional rival Saudi Arabia has faced over the Khashoggi murder.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and three of its officers, including Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani, as terrorist sponsors.

"The House of Saud is seeking to divert international and regional public opinion away from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," Brigadier General Esmail Kowsari of the Guards said in reaction to decision, quoted by Mehr news agency.

"Saudi Arabia is stuck in a quagmire they can't get out of," Kowsari said, adding that the designation was an attempt to utilise the tactic of attack being the best form of defence.

"The murder of this journalist is one of the thousands of villainies committed by this child-killing regime, but they want to revolve the world’s attention away from themselves onto Iran," said Kowsari.

source: philstar.com

Saudi crown prince attends investment forum amid 'crisis'

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince yesterday attended a glitzy investment forum boycotted by a host of global business leaders, as the petro-state admitted it is facing a "crisis" after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sat in the audience on the opening day of the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII), which was meant to project the historically insular Gulf kingdom as a lucrative business destination and set the stage for new ventures and multi-billion dollar contracts.

The conference, nicknamed "Davos in the desert", has been overshadowed by the outcry over the murder of Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with a string of leading international investors pulling out over the case.


But Saudi organisers sought to portray it was business as usual, announcing 12 "mega deals" worth more than $50 billion in oil, gas, infrastructure and other sectors.

They sought to rally around Prince Mohammed, the king's powerful son whose reform credentials have been tarnished by the scandal despite repeated denials he had any involvement in the killing, as he made an appearance.


But Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih acknowledged "these are difficult days".

"We are going through a crisis," Falih said in his speech.

Falih said the murder of Khashoggi was regrettable, adding that "nobody in the kingdom can justify it".

In further efforts to diffuse the crisis, Saudi Arabia's cabinet said separately that his killers would be held accountable "no matter who they may be".

The comments came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded to know who gave the order for Khashoggi's killing in his country and the whereabouts of the slain journalist's corpse.

- Tight security -

The Riyadh conference opened amid tight security at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, with Russian Direct Investment Fund chief Kirill Dmitriyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan headlining.

Falih heaped praise on the CEO of French energy giant Total, Patrick Pouyanne, for standing by Saudi Arabia in this difficult period.

"We see what partnership means when you have difficult times," Pouyanne responded as he shared the stage with Falih.

"This is when you really strengthen a partnership."

Dozens of delegates walked a red carpet into the vast conference venue at the Ritz-Carlton, with a cathedral-like lobby, frescoed ceilings and glittering chandeliers.

But as the day progressed, the crowds thinned in the main auditorium, and organisers frequently changed the agenda of the event in a sign speakers were dropping out.

SoftBank Group's chief executive Masayoshi Son -- who maintains close relations with the crown prince -- cancelled his speech, Bloomberg reported.

A long list of investors and international policymakers have already declined to show up in Riyadh in apparent protest against the Khashoggi killing.

Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser, corporate chiefs from JP Morgan, Ford and Uber, and media powerhouses like CNN and the Financial Times all scrapped plans to attend.

Ministers from Britain and France and the United States, which have huge defence deals at stake with Saudi Arabia, have stayed away.

A wider Western boycott of the conference suggests rising political risks in Saudi Arabia that could hit foreign direct investment, which already plunged to a 14-year low last year, according to a UN body.

And in a fresh setback, the forum's website went down on Monday after an apparent cyberattack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It was back up with reduced content as the conference progressed.

- 'PR crisis' -

This year's conference contrasts with last year's inaugural FII -- a star-studded event at which Prince Mohammed was lionised as a visionary by speakers.

But many Western firms have too much at stake to abandon the Arab world's biggest economy, and some have decided to send lower-level executives.

"The West is still interested in the business opportunity that Saudi offers," Tony Chan, president of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, who attended the forum.

"The no-shows have to be reconciled with that fact. As business shifts from West to East, those companies have to find a balance between maintaining a good PR image and their business considerations."

Companies from China and Russia have shown little interest in withdrawing from the event, an organiser said.

"The high profile withdrawal of so many American CEOs from the conference certainly presents opportunities for Asian and Russian companies to make a splash," Ellen Wald, author of the book "Saudi Inc.", told AFP.

The crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, faces what the risk consultancy Eurasia Group has called "an acute public relations crisis" over Khashoggi's murder.

source: philstar.com

Saudi account of Khashoggi's death meets growing scepticism

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— Saudi Arabia faced a growing chorus of incredulity Sunday over its belated explanation of how critic Jamal Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and the whereabouts of his body.

After a fortnight of denials, Saudi authorities admitted on Saturday that the Washington Post columnist was killed after entering the consulate on October 2, a disappearance that sparked outrage and plunged the Gulf kingdom into a spiralling international crisis.

Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, with pro-government media in Turkey reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims.


Police have searched a forest in Istanbul where they believe his body may have been disposed of.

After initially saying Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, and then that they were investigating his disappearance, Saudi authorities backtracked and admitted the 60-year-old was killed in a "brawl" with officials inside the consulate.

But that narrative -- combined with the absence of Khashoggi's body -- quickly drew scepticism and scorn from many, including staunch allies.

Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as US President Donald Trump said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the columnist's death while the EU, Germany, France, Britain, Australia, Canada and the UN also demanded greater clarity.

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran -- under unprecedented pressure.

It has also evolved into a major crisis for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a Trump administration favourite widely known as MBS, whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely undermined.

'Changing stories' 
Canada is among the latest countries to question Riyadh's version of events.

"The explanations offered to date lack consistency and credibility," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement Saturday.

Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio was more stark in his assessment.

"Saudi Arabia's changing stories on #KhashoggiMurder is getting old. The latest one about a fist fight gone bad is bizarre," he tweeted, renewing his call for sanctions against those responsible.

Ankara said it had a "debt of honour" to reveal what happened.

"We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don't accept anything to remain covered (up)," said ruling Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said many questions remained unanswered while German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged transparency, adding that "available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient."

"This cannot stand. This will not do," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison added on Sunday.

The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini and UN chief Antonio Guterres both called for a proper investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.

Trump initially said he found the explanation credible, but later expressed more scepticism -- although he warned against scrapping a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the conservative kingdom.

"No, I am not satisfied until we find the answer," he told reporters. "It was a big first step. It was a good first step. But I want to get to the answer."

Saudi Arabia's Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, welcomed the Saudi disclosures, as did Egypt.

Shielding crown prince 
In the Saturday admission, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb also announced a series of moves including against people linked to the crown prince, who Khashoggi had criticised in his writings.

He said 18 Saudis had been arrested and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed had been sacked, together with three other intelligence agents.

The Saudi king also ordered the establishment of a ministerial body under the chairmanship of the crown prince -- his son -- to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers precisely," Saudi state media said.

Saudi officials have roundly denied that the crown prince had any involvement in the affair.

But one suspect identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of the young heir to the throne, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic specialist, according to The New York Times.

The decision to overhaul the intelligence apparatus and sack members of Crown Prince Mohammed's inner circle is designed to "distance the crown prince from the murder," said analysis firm Eurasia Group.

In a recent off-the-record interview published posthumously by US magazine Newsweek, Khashoggi described the 33-year-old heir apparent as "an old-fashioned tribal leader," but said he would have accepted an offer to work as his adviser.

"I'm not calling for the overthrow of the regime," the one-time royal insider said. "I'm just calling for reform of the regime."

source: philstar.com