Our Pride & Joy, A Fearless Filipina
By: Lourdes G. Mon
Filipinos can all rise up and applaud the accomplishments of a scholar and freedom fighter through her speeches and writings that are internationally acclaimed. Her name is Maria Angelita Ressa. She is a Filipino and American journalist. This year, Ms. Ressa was Harvard University’s commencement speaker last May 23, 2024, after receiving an honorary doctor of law degree from the university. Previously, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University.
Maria Ressa was born in Manila. Ressa’s father Phil Sunico Aycardo, a Chinese-Filipino, died when she was one year old. When she and her sister were just very young children, her mother Hermelina moved to the United States. They lived with their father’s relatives. However, Hermilina frequently visited her children, then married an Italian-American, named Peter Ames Ressa. She brought her two children to the United States, when Maria was 10 years old. Peter adopted Maria and she took her stepfather’s last name.
Hermilina’s situation was not unique for many Filipino mothers who immigrated to the United States, beginning in the late 1970s, in search for a better life. Many doctors and nurses took care of the opportunities. A few teachers like me were fortunate to get teaching jobs, because there was a shortage of teachers. Many district principals went to the Philippines in search for qualified teachers.
Ms. Ressa attended a public school Toms River High School North in New Jersey, and she went on to be a three-time president of her high school class and a performer in school plays. The school named its newly renovated auditorium after her in 2021.
Ms. Ressa established the online news site Rappler in 2012 along with three other female founders and with a small team of 12 journalists and developers. It initially started as a Facebook page named MovePH in August 2011, evolving into a complete website on January 1, 2012. The site became one of the first multimedia news websites and a major news portal in the Philippines receiving numerous local and international awards. She serves as the Executive Editor and Chief Executive Officer of the news website.
Maria previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. This month, she becomes a Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. She has been a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia’s new Institute of Global Politics since the fall of 2023. She is also a fellow at the Digital Economy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 2021 became a fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School. She also taught courses in politics and the press in Southeast Asia for Princeton University and broadcast journalism for the University of the Philippines.
Ms. Ressa was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by Jonas Gahr Store, prime minister and leader of the Norwegian Labour Party. She and Dmitry Muratov of the Russian Federation were the recipients of the award on October 8, 2021, “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
She has written three books concerning the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia 1.) Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda’s Newest Center, 2.) From Bin Laden to Facebook and 3.) How to Stand Up To a Dictator.
As a strong proponent of journalistic freedom, Maria’s awards are too numerous to enumerate, which include the following. They are: Philippines’ Sexeist Woman Alive (Esquire, 2010); Excellence in Broadcasting Lifetime Achievement Award (Philippine Movie Press Club, 2015); Democracy Award,as CEO of news organization, Rappler (National Democratic Institute, 2017); Person of the Year, (Time’s, 2018), only the 2nd Filipino recipient after President Corazon Aquino who received it in 1986; 100 Most Influential People in the World (Time’s 2019); Columbia Journalism Award (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 2019); UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize (UNESCO, 2021); and, the Woodrow Wilson Award, highest undergraduate alumni honor (Princeton University, 2022).
In my book, Maria Ressa is a modern day heroine – intelligent, educated, brave, courageous, fearless. She demonstrates many traits of various Filipino heroes in Philippine history.
