By Karen Lema

MANILA, (Reuters) – Maria Ressa from the Philippines won the Nobel Peace Prize. Maria was a journalist who worked in conflict areas and became accustomed to dealing with violence.

However, the 58 year-old says that she was not prepared for the torrents of hatred and threats she received from the authoritarian government supporters since co-founding Rappler’s investigative news site in 2011.

According to Reuters, the Philippines’ first Nobel laureate in 2017 said that there were “so many hate messages… Ninety hate message per hour, 90 rape threat messages per minute.”

When I was young, I worked as a correspondent for war. It was much easier than that.

Ressa is currently free of bail while she appeals the six-year sentence that was handed down in a case for libel. She expressed shock and disbelief on Friday, after receiving the Prize from Dmitry Muratov (Russian investigative journalist).

“We are in a struggle for facts,” she stated. “… I’ve never experienced anything similar, but it seems there is justice.”

The Nobel committee said their award was an endorsement of free speech rights under threat worldwide, and Rappler has been in a legal tussle with the government to have its license, revoked https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-media-idUSKBN1F40TE in 2018 for alleged violations of laws on foreign ownership, reinstated.

Rappler claimed it is “100% Filipino owned” and that foreign investors have no influence on its operations.

We hold the line

Ressa has worked as a journalist in various capacities for the past 35 years. He was the Bureau Chief in Manila, Jakarta and later the U.S. Broadcaster’s Southeast Asia lead investigative reporter. His focus is on conflicts in Southeast Asia including the Insurgency in Southern Philippines.

She has also written two books – “Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of al-Qaeda’s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia” and “From Bin Laden to Facebook (NASDAQ:)”.

Rappler has grown prominent through investigative reporting, including into mass killings during a police campaign against drugs masterminded by President Rodrigo Duterte, who has labelled the site a “fake news outlet” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-media-idUSKBN1F50HL and a tool of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Ressa was once a leading advocate for media freedom in Asia and has been required to post bail ten times since the website’s launch.

Duterte’s government claimed that they don’t target news media for reporting.

But Ressa, convicted of libel https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-media-idUSKBN23M03B and sentenced in June last year over a 2012 article that linked a businessman to illegal activities, says the lawsuits are designed to intimidate media and promote self-censorship.

On Friday, she stated, “We are going though a dark, difficult time. But I believe that we have the right to hold onto our line.”

We know that our actions today will determine the future.