"You don't understand freedom until you almost lose it"

Despite legal challenges, Filipino journalist and Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa ruled out going into exile, and her lawyers urged President Rodrigo Duterte to drop all charges against her.

In a move widely interpreted as an endorsement of free speech rights under attack, Ressa shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov.

As a result of her reporting on government policies, including a bloody war on drugs launched by Duterte, Ressa's news site, Rappler, was suspended and she has been sued for various reasons.

During a streamed news conference with her legal team, Ressa reiterated that exile was not an option, adding that violence and fear were easing under Duterte's rule.

In addition to five tax evasion charges and a corporate case with the regulator, Ressa is free on bail while she appeals a six-year prison term awarded last year for a libel conviction.

Ressa said from the U.S. city of Boston, where she is on a visit to an academic institution, "You don't understand freedom until you almost lose it."

A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists grades the Philippines seventh worldwide in its impunity index, which tracks media members who have been killed, but their killers have gone free, in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Media organizations face legal, not political problems, says the government, which denies harassing them. According to the government, free speech is important.

According to the justice minister, the Philippines value democracy, freedom, and human rights.

Reesa has requested approval from the government to travel to Norway on 10 December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

* This article contained information that was sourced from VOA | Image credits: ERNESTO DISTEFANO/GETTY IMAGES