Broadcaster Anthony Taberna on his facebook live earlier on October 20, had criticized Nobel Peace Prize awardee, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and claimed that the latter only won because of her libelous reporting against the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Taberna started his attacks by “congratulating” Ressa on her win saying, “First of all, gusto kong sabihin sa inyo, I’d like to congratulate Maria Ressa for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Kaya anong problema natin do’n?”
Then he shared his opinion that the Norwegian award-giving body was biased when it comes to Pres. Duterte, who was at the receiving end of Ressa’s reporting.
“So deserving s’ya doon kasi malay n’yo ang requirement o criteria nang Nobel Peace Prize award na ‘yan, Nobel Peace Prize committee o ano man ang tawag d’yan, kung ang requirement nila ay kailangan galit ka kay Duterte o magkalat ka nang kasinungalingan laban sa sarili mong bansa.
“At pagka gano’n, p’wede kang maging Nobel Peace Prize awardee, eh anong pakialam natin do’n? Eh ‘di deserving s’ya dun, ibigay natin kay Maria Ressa yun.”
He then recalled how Ressa was involved in a libelous case filed by Wilfredo Keng.
Keng was a businessman whom Rappler accused of being involved in illegal drugs and human trafficking. The court found Ressa guilty of libel in June 2020.
“Kung yung pagdaldal n’ya tungkol noong kinasuhan s’ya—‘di ba kinasuhan s’ya ng libel, tapos ang nagkaso sa kanya isang negosyante. Siniraan nila, sasabihin ko na, siniraan nila yung negosyante. In-involve nila sa drugs, at iba pang illegal activities, smuggling o ano.
“Tapos humihingi lang ng tawad sa kanila sabi, ‘Mag-sorry lang kayo hindi na ako mag-file ng kaso.’ Eh nag-sorry ba ang Rappler? Hindi. Pinanindigan nila yung kanilang maling ulat. O eh ‘di dinemanda sila ng tao.
“Nag-prosper ang kaso, na-convict si Maria Ressa at yung ibang mga taga-Rappler. Ano yung sabi ni Maria Ressa? Ginigipit daw s’ya ni Pangulong Duterte. Anak ng bakal dalaga naman mismo Maria Ressa o.
“Kaya nawalan ako ng bilib dito sa taong ‘to eh. Isipin mo, gumawa kayo ng kalokohan sa pag-uulat, humihingi lang ng side—yung reporter n’yo mismo ang nag-testify nito sa husgado—humihingi lang ng side (airtime) yung siniraan ninyo.
“Hindi n’yo pinagbigyan, hindi n’yo pinublish ang kanilang side. Tapos noong idinemanda ka, galit ka! Sabi mo ang may kasalanan si Duterte! Eh may toyo ka ba?” ranted Taberna.
Contrary to Taberna’s tirade, the Nobel Peace Prize was given to Ressa because of her unwavering reportage of alleged abuses and corruption in the Duterte administration.
Furthermore, Ressa denied having written the libelous article and that it was published four months before the enactment of the cyber libel law in 2012.
This led to having the assumption that Duterte was trying to intimidate Rappler from publishing the dark side of his administration.
Taberna has recently faced criticism of his own as he, together with Gerry Baja, in their radio program Dos por Dos, allowed Dr. Romeo Quijano to spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
The 46-year-old broadcaster also denied being one of the Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS) and yet has shown his true color over several of his facebook lives defending the President and his administration.
