Hontiveros praises Ressa for being among TIME’s 2018 Person of the Year

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros praised Rappler chief executive officer and executive editor Maria Ressa on Wednesday for being named among TIME’s Person of the Year.

“Mabuhay to Maria and all the brave women fighting tyranny, deception and misogyny!” the senator said in a statement.

“Every time a tyrant tries to arrest and incarcerate us, we become freer. Every time a dictator tries to crush us, we become stronger,” she said.

Hontiveros added: “Every time an authoritarian tries to diminish us, we become bigger. And every time a despot tries to scare us, we become braver.”

TIME Magazine named four journalists and a newspaper on Tuesday as its 2018 Person of the Year.

Alongside Ressa, the group includes slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and the “Capital Gazette” in Annapolis, Maryland.

Time selected them for “for taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts that are central to civil discourse, for speaking up and speaking out.” /jpv

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