Rappler’s Boss hid American Citizen to BASH the Philippines in order to Save Her Distressed Career

Ever wondered why the U.S. Embassy released an official statement defending Maria Ressa's arrest? 

Award-wining investigative journalist Bobi Tiglao has a simple explanation why the United States Embassy issued a “veiled” warning against the Duterte administration not to fuck up the arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa: the self-appointed guardian of Philippine press freedom is an American.

“No wonder Ressa has no qualms about lying to the world that the Philippine president is a dictator and is attacking the press. She just isn’t a Filipino, in the deeper meaning of the term,” said Tiglao.

“No wonder Ressa is so bold in spreading lies against Duterte. Behind her to defend her is the most powerful nation on earth. If ever Ressa is convicted of the crimes she is charged of and ordered jailed, she could just flee to the US,” he added.

In his Manila Time column, the former Cabinet Secretary says Ressa has “deliberately and cleverly” hidden her American citizenship since she and her family swore allegiance to the Star and Stripes during their migration in 1973.

U.S. Embassy

Right after Ressa was arrested, the US embassy issued a statement — a rare one, her media outfit Rappler itself reported — which said: “We hope the charge against journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa will be resolved quickly in accordance with relevant Philippine law and international standards of due process.”

The statement was not due to US concerns over a purported attack on the press, as Rappler implied. It was simply because Ressa is a US citizen, and US embassies are required to publicly express concern over a high-profile citizen being arrested and charged in local courts.

We hope the charge against journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa will be resolved quickly in accordance with relevant Philippine law and international standards of due process. pic.twitter.com/v0pkP6FTKt

— U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (@USEmbassyPH) February 14, 2019

If Ressa had to spend more than a day in detention, we would have seen a US embassy officer visit her to check on her situation, as is standard operating procedure for American embassies.

Going by the success of Ressa in spreading lies around the world, the framers of our Constitution were men of foresight when they put in our nation’s basic law: “The ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly owned and managed by such citizens.”

Tiglao claimed that Ressa only acquired dual citizenship in 2004 (when she was appointed head of ABS-CBN’s news division, a post she held until 2010) mainly for “convenience, for her to own property in the country.”



Tiglao said Ressa’s American citizenship was the reason why the US Embassy in the Philippines posted a tweet shortly after Ressa was arrested in February 13 for a libel case filed by a businessman.

Oath of U.S. Allegiance

Ressa became a US citizen shortly after her family migrated to the U.S. in 1973, and swore the oath of allegiance required of naturalized Americans, the very first sentence of which declares:

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.”

No wonder Ressa has no qualms about lying to the world that the Philippine president is a dictator and is attacking the press. She just isn’t a Filipino, in the deeper meaning of the term.



While she acquired Philippine citizenship in 2004 under the country’s “dual citizenship law,” this has been only for convenience, for her to own property in the country. There is no oath similar to the US oath of allegiance (to “abjure” allegiance to one’s former country) in such re-acquisition of Filipino citizenship by a former Filipino.

READ: The TRUTH about Maria Ressa and Her Defamation against Duterte

Dual citizenship proved to be a huge advantage for Ressa as she claimed to be a Filipino in becoming a major stockholder of Rappler (and later Rappler Holdings), a firm in media, an industry where foreigners are totally banned from both investing in or managing.

“We hope the charge against journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa will be resolved quickly in accordance with relevant Philippine law and international standards of due process,” the US Embassy said.




Tiglao said:”The statement was not due to US concerns over a purported attack on the press, as Rappler implied. It was simply because Ressa is a US citizen, and US embassies are required to publicly express concern over a high-profile citizen being arrested and charged in local courts.”

“If Ressa had to spend more than a day in detention, we would have seen a US embassy officer visit her to check on her situation, as is standard operating procedure for American embassies,” he added.

Hid Nationality

U.S. media foundations which showered Ressa with so much praise as a courageous fighter for press freedom struggled to hide her nationality.



For example, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that its 2018 “International Press Freedom Awards go to a Vietnamese blogger, Venezuelan reporter, Ukrainian broadcaster, a Sudanese freelancer, a Cameroonian radio correspondent, and a Tibetan documentary filmmaker.”

How did it refer to Ressa who was given Columbia University’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award?

READ: HERE ARE THE FACTS: This is how Maria Ressa will MILK her Arrest for a FAKE ANGLE against Pres. Duterte 

Just as “Rappler editor,” without identifying her nationality. The Columbia University functionary, Sheila Coronel, who lobbied for Ressa’s award, and who prides herself on being a top-notch investigative journalist, portrayed Ressa as a Filipina, that she “was born in the Philippines, migrated with her family to the US, and then returned to Manila in the 1980s.” She omitted to mention what would have been a significant information: That she assumed American citizenship in the 1970s and never gave it up.



Ressa though is not a rare creature in this sorry country. Not a few Filipinos who abandoned their country by becoming US citizens or to work abroad (even to purportedly teach investigative journalism in an Ivy League school) delight in bashing the country, without even doing research to verify information spewed in such publications as Rappler.

What’s happened to our country?

Why do we allow an American to run a company in an industry totally reserved for Filipinos?

Why do we allow this American to tell lies to the world that press freedom is under attack in this country, and that only she and her Rappler are bold enough to oppose a dictator?

Why are so many among our political and intellectual elite so gullible to believe an American’s lies against this country and its government?



Written by Rigoberto "Bobi" Tiglao | Email: tiglao.manilatimes@gmail.com | Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao | Twitter: @bobitiglao Archives at: www.rigobertotiglao.com | Source: The Manila Times