A Thousand Cuts (2020) - full transcript

Morning!

You want to be somewhere
within reaching distance,

because I will come to you
for...

Propaganda.

Yeah.

Pia, you're my first strike.

What will you ask me?

I'm assuming I'm going
to ask you

what it was like to get banned
from the palace.

Okay, got it.

Rambo, you, of course, numbers.



Drug war, what's changed, right?
Okay.

Because it's on two fronts,
right?

You have the, people expect...

People think that's
the main accomplishment,

so what did they really
accomplish?

Okay, breaking it down. Yes.

Okay.

Five...

Hello and welcome,
I'm Maria Ressa.

We are at the 2018
State of the Nation address.

Use the hashtag #SONA2018.

"Rappler" team is there.

Rodrigo Roa Duterte,

president of the Republic
of the Philippines.



Wow... wow.

Award-winning Filipina
journalist Maria Ressa,

the founder of the independent
news site "Rappler,"

vocal critic of Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte...

Maria Ressa,
a high-profile journalist

in the Philippines,
she was named

Time Magazine Person of the Year
in 2018...

Maria Ressa carries
the torch of press freedom

in a country held in thrall
by a populist president.

Okay.

Fantastic!

It's, like, let me focus you
first

on what's happening in the
entire information ecosystem.

It's dark and light, let me,
let me use that now, right?

They're trying to actively form
alternative news.

And they've succeeded.

Trending News Portal was
a really good distribution.

Mocha is a really good
distribution.

That's why, all of a sudden,
our society is so polarized,

because that's
what they're doing.

This group just amplifies,
pounds,

but they never share any of the
traditional news sites.

And the traditional news sites
are so blind

that they don't even see they're
getting killed here, right?

This is fascinating...

It's a snapshot of our
information ecosystem today.

I never planned
to be in politics.

When I supported
then-Mayor Duterte,

it was just voluntary.

For a dancer like me,
for an entertainer like me,

to be appointed in Malacañang,

that's really something big.

And last but not the least...

Journey to the Presidency."

1,164 shares.

Reached 233,860.

He's the first chief implementer

of the government's war on
drugs.

After his retirement,
he was chosen

to clean up the
corrections bureau,

also plagued
with illegal drug problems.

Trust me, I have my own way
of stopping you

from doing your illegal acts...
Trust me, ah.

Believe you me,
I can stop you, ah.

So...

Yes, sir!

Gentleman's agreement.

Yes, sir!

Yes, sir!

Yes, sir!

We're sitting now with
Davao mayor Rody Duterte.

Thank you for joining us.

Can you please,
you are the man of the hour,

people wanting to know whether
you're running for president,

vice president, yes, no?

Where are you?

So no qualms
about killing killers?

The level of poverty on the
ground is phenomenal.

They've had other presidents
and other governments,

and their lives have not
gotten better.

Duterte comes in,

he offers not just change.

He offers revenge.

"Whoever did this to you,
I will stop it."

Rodrigo Duterte
and Alan Peter Cayetano

campaigned in Cainta, one of
the most... towns in Rizal.

I've covered Duterte
for a long time.

I covered Duterte
when he was still the mayor,

who nobody really,

who everybody thought
was just a wild card.

He had a reputation
of being an iron-fisted mayor.

He had a lot of nicknames,

like, people were calling him
Dirty Harry,

or the Dirty Harry of Mindanao.

But, sir...

He may have been a politician,

but he was
an outsider politician,

like, a small-time politician.

So his messaging

was being someone cut out
from political elite circles

in Manila.

"I'm an outsider, and I'm here
to change everything."

I, Rodrigo Roa Duterte...

President Duterte,
right after his inauguration,

stood on a platform

and said, "If you're into drugs,

"sometime in the next few years,
you will make a mistake

and I will kill you."

It took three hours.

The first body was found a few
blocks away from where he spoke.

Please, sir.

A year... Actually, that's what

I'm going to start off with.

And I'll just say that,
a year ago,

this is what we, we talked then,

and you've done everything
you said.

All of our surveys showed it.

We had...
I'll show you all the... yeah.

Social media.

By February we knew.

In 2016, "Rappler" fought
two levels of impunity.

The first was the drug war.

The war on drugs became
a war on the poor.

We had one team that would go
out every night,

they would come home
with at least

eight dead bodies a night.

The narrative of the government
is that they fought back.

These are extra-judicial
killings or murder.

"Impunity" in the drug war
was a continuing series.

We put faces and names

to the people being killed.

We demanded the government be
held accountable.

Anyone on Facebook who
questioned

the people who were being killed
was automatically bashed.

We began to gather data.

We began to look at the accounts
attacking all of media.

We stumbled onto something...
Disinformation networks.

When you see the network
that spreads it,

you can follow other networks,
and then you can see its growth.

Mid-September,
I started writing.

First, the weaponization
of the internet.

The second piece was how

Facebook algorithms
impact democracy.

As soon as we released it,
we got pounded.

I was getting an average of
90 hate messages per hour.

Mocha Uson blog,
she attacked "Rappler,"

said, "Oh, 'Rappler's' C.I.A."

Followed by another blogger,
Thinking Pinoy,

who seeded the ideas that we're
foreign-controlled.

"Rappler" is misrepresenting
itself...

It was the second
State of the Nation address.

It comes out of President
Duterte's own mouth.

Of course,
we were covering it live.

I automatically tweeted,
"Mr. President, you're wrong."

I was told later on
that offended him.

What do you do
when the president lies,

then it's repeated
a million times

so people have no idea
what the truth is?

This set the stage.

A week after
the president did that,

we got our first subpoena.

January 2018, the government
tried to close "Rappler."

Tried to revoke our license
to operate.

In a little more than a year,
we faced 11 cases.

Oh, hi, sir, sir,
earlier in your speech,

you said that the issue
in the SEC ruling

against "Rappler" is not
an issue of press freedom.

But at the same time during your
speech,

you were giving comments about
the media and about "Rappler."

So what does that mean, sir?

You say that this is not
an attack on media,

but you also have attacks
on media in your own speech...

'Cause the end goal

is to actually make you doubt
the facts.

Mocha! Mocha!

Good morning,

Uh...

Duterte! Duterte!

Duterte! Duterte! Duterte!

A prominent critic

of Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has been arrested.

Maria Ressa is C.E.O....

A warrant for a cyber-libel
case was served past 5:00 p.m.

inside "Rappler's" office
in Pasig City.

Press freedom advocates say

the government's charges against
her are retaliation

for her critical reporting of
authorities in the Philippines.

We'll go, we'll go to NBI now.

We'll go to the NBI,
can you guys come?

It's a shock, it's a shock,
but we're going.

No further comment.

Excuse us, excuse us.

We have until 9:00
to be able to post bail.

Without the right documents, we
cannot post bail, so they're...

Stumbling blocks to prevent...

It's a night in prison,
it's a night here,

but apparently the delay
is on purpose.

Free Maria Ressa!

Demand press freedom!
Free Maria Ressa!

Demand press freedom!

Free Maria Ressa!

Demand press freedom!

Free Maria Ressa!

My stay last night at the NBI

really made me think about what
this is all about, right?

And for me,
it's about two things:

abuse of power

and weaponization of the law.

This isn't just about me and
it's not just about "Rappler."

I'll be very transparent.

Because I have done nothing...

Sorry.

This case, the cyber-libel case,

the National Bureau of
Investigations'

own lawyers threw it out.

But they reversed their
position,

and the Department of Justice

and the government prosecutors
now are taking this.

The story which supposedly
violated

the cyber-libel laws
published seven years ago,

four months before the actual
law we supposedly violated

had even been enacted.

They're applying
a law retroactively, right?

Blaming the administration
for it.

Your policy on critical media?

Thank you, thank you.:

Tonight, we are following
a team of policemen

conducting a simultaneous
anti-crime

and law enforcement operations

to seize people who are
violating city ordinances,

following the order of
President Rodrigo Duterte

to go after tambays.

We will see how they execute the
order of the president.

Otso Diretso candidate,

the sole woman in our lineup of
nine candidates,

Samira Gutoc coming in...

without threat to her life,

that she is willing to run
alongside giants

and along honorable men.

Morning!

It's a trial for our country,
it's a trial for our democracy.

There needs to be genuine
opposition.

The excuse that people say
is, like,

"We're tired, we want results.

"We want people
who really fight drugs.

We want people to,
to look at safe streets."

I understand that, of course,
everyone wants that.

But you cannot kill the young.

You cannot kill youths.

You cannot kill a man
for the sake of,

you know, like,
cleaning up the streets.

We cannot be judge
and executioner at one time.

I love you, Bato!

We were in a place called
Cessna.

There's a murder.

So, one body on the ground.

Sprawled, his eyes were open,
he was dead.

And they were shooting,
everyone was shooting,

and the brothers showed up
and they were screaming.

Because he was dead.

And... uh... the...

We were all crowded,

and I remember someone from
"Playboy" magazine

asking someone to translate,
so I said, "Fuck you."

I didn't mean "fuck you"
to the guy,

but the brothers really were
saying, "Fuck you."

And I remember that, I don't
know why I remember that.

But two seconds after that,

we hear a wailing from
the other side of the alley,

and... I'm not sure
they were words.

The mother had discovered
her son was dead.

And in the narrowest alley
that I had ever seen,

there was a woman who was
crawling

along the wall of the shanties,

hanging onto grills, trying
to pull herself to her son,

because her legs wouldn't work.

She, she was trembling
and she was screaming.

And on top of all the screaming,

there were journalists
who were also screaming.

"Is your son an addict?"

"How do you feel?"

"What's his name?", "What's your
name?", all of that.

It was one of my first days.

And I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know if
I was supposed to step in.

If I was supposed to... I didn't
know what I was supposed to do.

So I just recorded.

And then the... the mother,
who was still screaming,

heard the questions, and,
being Filipino, answered them.

At a wail, "No, my son is good.

"No, he's a good boy,

he's a good boy,
he's a good boy, he's..."

I can't,
I can't forget the scream.

The story was called
"Execution at Cessna."

Hi, guys.

So we're now here at
"Rappler" office.

To prove to Ms. Ressa, that,
you know, we're not trolls.

That we are here to
express our outrage.

And fight for our country. Yes.

'Cause they are destroying
our country

and we're not going to sit here
and let them do it.

And this is what we're going
to say to Ms. Ressa

and to the people at "Rappler."

Tell your boss she has no
business destroying the country.

She's American.

You take your orders
from an American.

How can you live with
yourselves?

This one, this is why,
because that account posted,

and then it was amplified by
what's-his-name.

By Mocha.

Everything can be turned
upside down.

I just let Facebook know.

Hi!

Just this morning, they said,

"Come to Coffee Bean
and Tea Leaf."

Yeah, for a physical protest
at our office.

The worst thing, of course,

is, the government amplified
their call.

Well, we don't even know whether
we can trust

the police to protect us.

Our security will now
be ramped up,

one, two, six times.

I also am going to deal
with that.

And I want you guys to be very
aware of your surroundings.

We've always been like that,
anyway,

and please report immediately
if there is anything,

um, that you see that is
strange, right?

They wanted to come to prove
they weren't trolls,

but then their very action is
actually proving they're trolls,

and then that is what incited
all the comments.

So that's the liability that we
think they have.

Because it would, those threats
would never have happened

if they never did the Facebook
Live outside our office.

I see.

But they have hold over their
timeline.

They could have deleted it,

they could have told their
people, "Hey, that's not good.

You shouldn't say things
like that."

Or, "Hey, that's illegal."

The fact that they didn't and,
in fact, even encouraged it,

Facebook took it down because

this is inciting to hate
and inciting to violence.

That's the policy they violated.

We'd like to continue
with our, our live...

Our live Facebook.

You know who's this for, right?

Who is it for?

All right... >> Losers!

Hello! >> Are you a troll?

Uh, fuck you, Ressa.

Are you a troll?

No, I'm not a troll, you look
like a tree troll, though.

Bitch. Yeah, tell her, tell her.

We are at the devil's lair,
people.

Okay, we'll continue later.

Ended.

Is any of it being shared?

Where's Mocha?

Mocha wasn't there. >> Okay.

But she amplified long
the call to...

Go to here. >> Yeah.

But the timing of it, why now?

Election.

When I dropped out
from med school,

my parents were really hurt.

One night...

He called me on the phone.

Finally he's accepted
the path that I chose.

So I went to bed very happy.

The next day, we got a call,
he's dead.

Shot six times.

He was assassinated.

Riding in tandem.

Because he was a judge.

And he was handing a mayoral
electoral protest.

So it was political.

There are criminals pretending
to be politicians.

Violence.

And you say this, um, you know,
violence is okay.

Is it necessary, to lead?

Is it important that people
be afraid of you?

Fear? >> Yes.

But Mr. President, as president,

you now also defend
the constitution.

Yes. >> And so, again, this,

this is a contradiction
from our last interview.

You break the law,
you threaten to break the law.

You said you had killed,
a year ago, right?

You told me that, and yet
you now have the task

of keeping the rule of law,

and you said you would do that
also... how do you...?

Thank you for having me.

We are so honored.
It's about time.

No, I mean... and thank you
for the statement,

I saw you got trolled.
Right away!

You got trolled there!

And we had a bomb threat
yesterday.

So that's a good sign.

At a time when our basic rights

are constantly being threatened,

human lives are being
disregarded,

and our freedoms
are under attack,

Maria Ressa's resilience
has become revolutionary.

In our moments of doubt,

allow us to draw strength
and courage from you.

My arrest doesn't hurt me.

Because it only makes me
more resolute.

Because I see firsthand
how the law is bent

to the point that it is broken.

What we're seeing is
death by a thousand cuts

of our democracy,
and it is done...

Then think about the bleeding,
right? Little cuts.

Little cuts to the body politic,

to the body of Philippine
democracy.

And when you have enough
of these cuts,

you are so weakened

that you will die.

We at "Rappler," I've said this,

it's been a year now
since I've said this.

We will not duck,
we will not hide.

We will hold the line... join us.

The trolls, they hate me
because I attack the president.

It's the president, he's talking
about his penis, I mean,

isn't that something
to be, like, mindful about?

It's, like, appalling.

It's appalling to have this kind
of language,

so we cannot have this six-year
presidency or administration

hijack all the values that
we fought for, that we cherish.

We cannot.

Sir, as far as we're concerned,

we've already addressed
the issue of fairness

on that article... can you just
answer, please, the question?

Duterte banned me from
Malacañang

because he was "annoyed
by our reporting."

It hurts, that's really been
demoralizing.

I mean, I'm a reporter,
I want access.

So, why should you care about
what happens in the Philippines?

For one, we spend the most time
on the internet.

More than ten hours a day.

We spend the most time on
social media globally.

And as we found out,

lies laced with anger and hate
spread fastest.

When you only look at content,
it's a Whac-a-Mole game.

I want to figure out
what the lie is,

then look at the network that
spreads the lies.

That's the nervous system.

We started looking
at one account

that was attacking,
"All journalists are corrupt."

One account that had
25 followers.

They were all following
each other.

We fact-checked
every single item.

These were all fake accounts.

We began to count and found that
26 fake accounts

can influence up to
three million other accounts.

Three million.

I think the first attacks,
this word "presstitutes,"

you can even track this word.

Mocha Uson starts
to popularize "presstitutes,"

Thinking Pinoy picks it up,

then it's repeated
a million times.

To make you distrust
institutions,

to shift the way you think.

In May 2017, we did a story
on the transcript

of Trump's call with
President Duterte.

"'Rappler' just made the
Philippines a legitimate target

of North Korean
nuclear missiles."

It's laughable,
but people believe it.

It jumped to,
"I can smell an arrest

Then from there, we go to
sexualized attacks.

Fuel misogyny... women are
a favorite easy target.

#ArrestMariaRessa.

It didn't trend,
and that's probably why

it took them another two years
to actually arrest me.

That was the end goal.

Court is now in session.

We can go that way?

I know many of you received
press releases

that this is a private citizen.

Please understand that it is the
Department of Justice

that is actually going
against...

This is the Philippine
government.

It's the Philippine government
that is filing this.

The Department of Justice
prosecutors are there.

This is your tax pesos at work.

Thank you.

Are you ready?

Let's all welcome Mocha Uson!

Hip-hip!

Hooray.

Hip-hip! >> Hooray.

Hip-hip! >> Hooray.

Hip-hip! >> Hooray.

Duterte!

Duterte! Duterte!

- Okay, you guys keep eating!
- Okay!

I'm taking you out, Dad.

I think we should just try to
find a weekend and do a beach.

Yes, a beach.

Hold on, let me look at my
calendar.

There's a human rights awards
thing.

And then FCC thing.
Oh, just another award.

And then I go to New York.

And then I'm in New York
until the 24th,

and I come home on the 25th,

Saturday night, though,
at, like, 11:00 at night.

We could do... oh, no, I can't.

Because after Saturday night,
then I have Sunday, Monday,

Tuesday, Wednesday in Manila.

Then I leave
at, like, 11:30 at night

on Thursday for Glasgow.

That's, this is impossible.

Unless we do...

Unless we do Sunday-Monday.

We could do Sunday-Monday.

Sunday the 26th to 27th.

Then I'm in Geneva on the third.

Am I happy to be leaving?

It's just a non-stop marathon.

I'm upset one court put a half a
million peso bond on top.

Now I'm almost up
at three million pesos

that the government has asked
for, for me to be free, right?

Because if I didn't do that,

I'd lose my constitutional right
to travel.

Mayor Inday Sara Duterte!

Maria Ressa, executive editor
and C.E.O. of "Rappler,"

with Matt Thompson,
the editor-in-chief

of the Center for
Investigative Reporting.

Good morning.

I can tell you that countless
editors across the country

are asking the question,
"What would Maria Ressa do?"

That's scary.

You've gotten to see a democracy

slide into increasing
authoritarian present.

What lessons do you have from
that experience,

from witnessing that, that we
should be really attentive to,

sitting here in Washington, DC?

I think first is,
what happens in America

happens to the rest of the
world.

I mean, in order to solve this,
you have to act.

And I'll tell you two reasons,
right?

Just earlier this month,

I spent time with the Cambridge
Analytica whistleblower,

Christopher Wylie.

The whistleblower said

they tested the tactics
of how to manipulate you

in our countries.

And in other countries in the
global South.

And the reason why he said that
was because our,

we don't, we don't have
strong governments.

They can get away with impunity,

and then if it worked in our
countries,

then they would, his word was,
"port" it over to you.

So the first step is,

I think we have to realize that

something horrific has
already happened.

And that we are
at this existential moment

where, if nothing significant
is done,

journalism is only the
first part.

Journalism, and democracy
as we know it, is dead.

We're in your dystopian future.

I think the last part I forgot
to say is

that data is plutonium, right?

We go back to nuclear war. Yeah.

That's the only thing.

This was where we went to
elementary school...

And Walnut Street.

I never really knew where
home was.

My parents were both Filipinos.

My real father died
when I was a year old.

My mom went to the States,

so I guess like an overseas
Filipino worker.

My stepfather, my dad, now,
they came back and got us.

My family left when I was ten.

My primary language is Tagalog.

So when I landed in New Jersey,

I had to learn how
to speak English.

You try to leave behind
being brown.

You try to understand what
you're walking into.

And the best way I could deal
with that was,

you work really, really hard.

150%, it's proving
that I belong.

You have to prove you
deserve it.

What can you say, right?

What can you say?

Where are we going?

We'll go, I think we'll go
into... right?

Well, I would like to post bail,
but I've been served a warrant.

A prominent Philippines
journalist, Maria Ressa,

has been arrested on
fraud charges.

Last month, Ms. Ressa,

the executive editor
of a news website, "Rappler,"

was arrested over an alleged
internet libel case.

Prosecutors filed
the latest charges against her

while Ressa was on a trip
in the U.S.

Media watchdogs say the charges
against Ressa

were aimed at intimidating those

who challenge Duterte's rule and
his war on drugs.

The seventh time
I've posted bail.

The second time
I've been arrested.

It's obviously clear I am not a
travel risk, right?

'Cause I came home.

Even after the new charges
were laid out

and the arrest warrant
was issued.

This is not the Philippines
I knew.

This is not the Philippines

I voluntarily chose as my
home country.

And it's shocking that after
a 14-hour flight,

you're, you know...
And I have done no crime.

I'm certainly not a flight risk,

but I'm greeted by police
who will take me.

Go in the back, go in the back,
go in the back.

Did I say too much?

Oh, my God!

Joseph... we have to be
extra-careful now.

The People Power
revolt happened.

Not a shot was fired
and a government was changed.

As a kid just coming out of
school

and feeling the exuberance of
that,

I wanted to come back
to the Philippines.

This country was actively
creating

what the future
was going to look like.

We were building institutions.

I felt, 20 years later,

the Philippines was going to be
an amazing country.

I worked at CNN,
I ran the Manila bureau

for almost a decade,
and in 1995,

I opened the Jakarta bureau.

I was there until 2005.

We had covered every single
country in Southeast Asia

as they transitioned from
authoritarian one-man rule

to democracy...
That was incredible.

I decided I would make
the Philippines my home.

We are journalists.

Physical presence in a
newsworthy event

is integral to our work.

Asking officials questions,
face-to-face,

is integral to our work.

Malacañang's ban prevents us
from doing our jobs.

Press freedom, free speech,
due process,

and equal protection are
guaranteed by the constitution.

We're asking the Supreme Court

to affirm these
fundamental rights.

This is just insane.

The palace is now coming out
with a press release

saying that, confirming their
Oust Duterte coup plot.

I mean, how could you even...

They're laying the groundwork
for a non-bailable charge.

It's, like, it's fantasy.

Oh, I'm going to show you
the gown, Maria, come here.

I'll show you.

Can you see it?

So this is a nice material.

Oh, I'm not going to wear that.

Maria, try it first.
No, no, no...

It's a gown, my gosh, come on...

No, no, no... Look, oh, my God,

it's going to be so beautiful.

No, number one,
number two, it's also long.

It's okay, you can pick it up.

Let me see what you...
let me see...

There's not enough time
to have it fixed, anyway.

You don't get it fixed,
that's the thing.

They just flow. >> What?

Seriously, let me see
what you got.

I think you should try it on.

You think she should try it on?

I think you should try it on.

I'll trip on it.

Maria, when you have it on...
What'll happen?

And then? >> When you have it on

and you're walking, you lift it.

And then you trip on it.

And then, no, when you lift it,

then you can walk with
your loafers up this way...

No.

Yes. >> No, look...

Maria, why don't you try first?

You don't even know,
it's so beautiful.

You have a great shape for it.

You can wear it.

No, I'm not, this is,
this is a small.

I'll be cold.

I'll be cold, 'cause I want,
like, a jacket.

It's 75 degrees tomorrow.

It's not 75 degrees tomorrow.
Yes, it is!

And this does itch my neck.

Let me see what you're wearing.

Here. Then I guess we have to go

to rent the runway now.

I told you I brought two.

I've seen you in that.

I know you've seen this,
but I haven't worn it since

like, a long time ago,
a decade ago.

It works!

Do you even want to see
or do you care?

I don't want... Because the shoe

makes the outfit.

These shoes are okay.

Check this out.

Ah... no.

Mary Jane, I can't wear heels.

You can wear heels,
that would be, like, awesome.

Look at it. >> No thanks.

That way when you...
Maria Ressa...

That's why this is shorter.

This is like a flat. No, no, no.

I don't wear those.
Maria, this'll be so nice.

I've never worn things
like that.

You know I've never worn things
like that.

Go out of the box. No thanks.

We're 50s now. >> No thanks.

We're no longer safe.

She and I were born in the
Philippines,

but we made different choices.

Starting with the place
we call home.

For Mary Jane, home is here
in New York.

I chose my home in Manila,
the Philippines.

For better or worse,
I hope not...

It's ironic that even though our
choices are different,

our two nations now have
the same type of leaders.

Macho, populist, sexist at best,

misogynistic at worst.

They both use anger and fear

to divide and conquer.

They've created a politics
of hate.

We need to put hope and love,

but I'm going to sound so
schmaltzy.

It's not with hate,
but with hope and love

we hold the line.

Is that too much?

No. >> Is it corny?

Maria, it has to be yours,
it's you.

You're corny, then.

Shut up-a you face,
let's go, let's go.

What'd you say, check my face?

I said shut up-a you face.

We stupidly believe
goodness wins over evil.

May the Force be with you.

Are you going to say that?

Are you really going
to say that?

No. Oh, my God.

So, Maria Ressa.

Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome journalist and
"Rappler" C.E.O. Maria Ressa.

What an incredible room
full of people.

I mean, the energy from the
Mother of Dragons,

to Nancy Pelosi, I, it is...

I don't know what to do with it.

It's a completely chaotic time
where technology

has helped make facts
disputable,

eroded truth,
and crippled trust.

At the moment,
it's incredibly easy

for governments to get away with
this kind of behavior.

That why they're using trials,

because it gives them a way to
silence dissent

and yet have
a veil of legitimacy.

You know, one of the things
I take away from today

having heard people
who were behind bars speak out

is, you know,
apathy is the enemy,

and we need people to be angry
and to care,

you will see a
"get involved" button.

And that doesn't mean
send money,

it actually means tell us
about trials

that you're worried about.

It means volunteer
to be a monitor.

So please help us
make this a success.

Yeah, I would also say, just,
my takeaway from today,

we had all these panels,

and we were with President
Nasheed, who spent time in jail

for telling the truth,
and Mohamed Fahmy,

who also spent time in jail
for telling the truth.

And Jason Rezaian, you know,

spent time in jail for telling
the truth.

Maria is, um, where is she?

Oh, there Maria is.

Is going back to the
Philippines,

she's been arrested twice in the
last five weeks.

Um, the rest of you are out.

Maria is about to risk going
back,

and she's going back because
she believes

that shining a light on crime,

shining a light in general,

is the best and most
important thing,

and she won't be afraid.

I'm afraid for her.

And all of us here are so proud

of the, your ability
to shine a light.

And we're all going to do
everything we can

to make sure it stays loud
for you.

Thank you.

Sorry about that.

Okay, thank you again.

Reach out anytime.
I'll do it through David.

Is that all right?

Yes, no, he should give you
my direct email address.

Oh, yeah, sure.
Or I'll give it to you.

Let me...

How about on here?

Can you write it on there?

Thank you.

I'm going to get going.

Yes, thank you.

I'll write you and I'll answer
the questions you ask.

Do, and, look, whichever way
is most helpful to you.

Yeah... thank you.

Thanks so much.

Too many things happening.

Have you heard about this? Yeah.

This happened this week.

So the palace released a matrix
of coup plotters.

And it includes my organization,

as well as other independent
news groups.

And you? >> And me.

And now the Philippine
National Police say

they will investigate
the journalists on that list.

Do I have more support outside
than inside the Philippines?

I think we have a lot of support
in the Philippines.

But I think anyone who stands up
has a lot to lose.

Our country needs the mission of
journalism

even more today than
at any other time.

What I saw out on the streets
never really escaped me,

it never really left me.

I still remember vividly how
bodies are left in the streets

and how families are
traumatized.

And the trauma of the family
isn't just theirs.

They also, it also to some
extent, gets passed on to me.

And I remember how they feel,

the feeling of losing someone
so brutally.

It affected me, and sometimes it
also appears in my dreams.

I'm terrified daily, because
I'm so close to the ground.

The concern isn't getting
hit from above.

It's getting hit from below.

It's not that the person
will name me,

but that a story I did wrong,

or a person I shouldn't have
named would die

because of what I did.

And half of me is a journalist
who wants the story.

And the other half is,

I do not want to be party
to anything like this.

It sort of leaks into every part
of your life, the paranoia.

Sorry.

See, Maria says a lot,
she doesn't scare easily.

I do.

I can't not go back.

I mean, that sounds really...

It's easy to say it,

but I actually did think
about this.

There's, I have to return,

and part of it is also
regardless of what happens,

then, you know, chronicling what
does happen.

Thank you, thank you.

That's good.

No... none!

We're okay, we're good.

That's where they picked
up before.

Ladies and gentlemen,
let us welcome Miss Pia Ranada.

It's quite challenging
to be a journalist now.

We feel like we're criminals
for being journalists.

Okay, next...

But we're fighting it.

Other "Rappler" reporters and I

went to the Supreme Court,
and we filed a petition

asking the Supreme Court
to lift the ban.

This is our first offensive
against the government.

Because previously,
we've always just been

at the receiving end of these
legal cases.

And I'm just so proud of my
company,

that despite all of our
attacks...

All of
the legal cases against us,

they still... sorry...

They still muster the resources

and the willpower to file a case
on our behalf.

And you know, you,

you don't have a boss like that
every day that...

It takes a certain kind of boss

to stand up against
a greater power

when they're already themselves
on the receiving end

of so many attacks.

So thank you, Maria,

and the rest of "Rappler,"
for standing up for us.

And, we know,
we're just praying...

Thank you.

I'll quote to you

one of the most famous Holocaust
poems of all time.

"First they came for the
Socialists

"and I did not speak out.

"Because I was not a Socialist.

"Then they came for the trade
unionists.

"And I did not speak out because
I was not a trade unionist.

"Then they came for the Jews.

"And I did not speak out because
I was not a Jew.

"Then they came for me

and there was no one left to
speak for me."

This was a poem
by Martin Nie öller.

And the "Enquirer" pushed it
down to one sentence for today.

"First they came for the
journalists.

We don't know what happened
after that."

I have been appointed as counsel

for another award-winning
journalist, Maria Ressa.

Ms. Ressa was one of four
journalists

named as "Time" Magazine's
Person of the Year

for what "Time" called

"great risks in pursuit
of greater truth."

The government's response has
been to arrest her

and initiate a series of civil
and criminal cases

that expose her to a maximum
sentence of 63 years in prison.

Colleen was asking

if we've had to make adjustments

based on what's happening
with you and...

your safety.

And are we safe,
she actually asked,

you know, "Are you guys safe?"

And I think that your friends
didn't even realize how...

how dangerous it is for you.

It's all relative.

Relative, and funny that
you say it that way,

because I did tell her
you dismiss...

I'm not dismissing it,
it's just done.

We dealt with it,
we know what can happen.

And I'm okay with it.

And... we just...

Well, even that resignation.

You know, that...

Look, I know you don't want
to worry mom and dad,

or the siblings or...

Because no one else really
needs to know, right?

That your life is in danger?
All we need to know

is just we're doing our work,
that's...

It's not that it's anyone's,
anyone says, right?

We're not different from
anyone else,

except a little bit more.

Ugh...

This year when,
at the Trialwatch,

Jason Rezaian who was like in
prison

for 500 something days,

and then Mohamed Fahmy
was in Egypt.

Mm-hmm. And he was in prison

for nearly 348 days.

And so that was like the
first time

where I really had to
figure out, okay, I haven't...

Am I okay with this?

If this happens,
can I deal with it?

And it took me a little bit,
but I can deal with it.

And so we keep going and,

argh, I forgot this!

Bummer...

Shucks.

How could I forget it?

It's a very real possibility.
Hmm...

Your actions, what I do will
determine how real it is.

I mean, intent is always there.

And I think part of what
will make us,

give us a better defense
is if we're not afraid.

Because the first factor
is to make you afraid.

And you shouldn't be afraid.

And if I'm not afraid,
I'll be a much better...

Um, I'll actually prepare better
for the worst case

if I'm not afraid.

And the only way to not be
afraid

is to understand the worst-case
scenario and embrace it.

I mean, you're prepared
to go to jail?

Are you prepared to...

Look, the point is
I never want to get there.

I don't want to see you

becoming a martyr in all of
this.

This is a stupid conversation.

I don't like this.

I think you're talking about
reality.

No, but I've already done this.

I've dealt with it...
Not with me.

I know, but you don't need
to deal with it.

And you shouldn't deal with it.

Well, that's not fair.

Oh...

Why are you crying?

Because I'm scared for you.

Yeah...

But you shouldn't.

We're okay.

We're, we're ready.

We will be asking
General Bato Dela Rosa

A reminder to the audience,
please behave.

Please show respect to all the
candidates.

Thank you very much.

Time's up, sir.

It's not the PNP's job

to kill people,
it is to protect the people.

There is overstretch of power

when journalists are arrested.

There is an overstretch of power
when local governments

are afraid to host the Otso
Diretso in their locations.

There is an overstretch of power

when we do not question his
rape jokes

and statements against women.

Silence, silence of the public
means there is an overstretch

of too much power by our
executive, the President.

We are in the last few days

and I asked Jodez how she was
doing.

You know what she said?

Here, she has to tell you,
I said, "Jodez, how are you?"

I'm enjoying the last days
of democracy.

I am enjoying the last days of
democracy... all right.

We still think there is hope.

Do we not?

Look,

Promise, it could be surprising.

We have 61.8 million
registered voters.

They're going to the polls
for 12 hours

to choose more than 18,000
elected positions.

Right up top,
12 members of the senate.

12 senators are going in.

Number 83...

The Senate hopeful, Bato
Dela Rosa has actually voted.

This is Pia's photo of him
voting.

There's also this, I don't
know, fragmented opposition,

for instance, because
Otso Diretso, right?

So uh... >> Right.

In Davao,

the Duterte children set to
sweep local elections,

that doesn't seem like too much
of a surprise, right?

Vote buying as well as
obstruction of justice.

These are questions that we are
going to ask the...

And he is set to consolidate
his power.

You know, that's why
the senate race is so important

because that will, we'll see
if we can, actually balance

what the president is doing.

The senate is the last
standing independent body

in terms of voting for what
President Duterte wants...

Wait, guys,
I have a hearing tomorrow.

Ah, arraignment.

And the headline,

"Opposition bets fail to get in
the Magic 12."

President Duterte is President.

The institution has morphed.

The man hasn't changed, the
legislature, the executive,

the judiciary,
the checks and balances,

well, they're bending
to the man.

So there we go.

2019 was a difficult year,
right?

I never had any doubt that
"Rappler" had my back.

And I hope you guys all know,

I think our nation has our back.

You can't fight monsters
by becoming monsters.

I'm quoting Bono.

And what prevents us from
becoming monsters is one word.

It starts with L.

Love!

I love you guys!

I'm here at the Manila
Regional Trial court,

where a branch court
has just convicted

Maria Ressa over
cyber-libel charges.

Sentence, up to six years.

We are meant to be
a cautionary tale.

We are meant to make you afraid,
right?

So I appeal again.

Don't be afraid.

Because if you don't
use your rights,

you will lose them.