LOOK: Rappler CEO and Nobel Laureate @mariaressa wears @nujp masked media mask with fellow Filipinos in Oslo, Norway.

The mask is being sold by the @nujp to help build a defense fund for Filipino journalists under attack. pic.twitter.com/pYD3AkjofW

— Jairo Bolledo (@jairojourno) December 10, 2021

With Rappler CEO Maria Ressa winning the Nobel peace prize, will it give the news organization some breathing room and reduce attacks against it?

Political reporter Pia Ranada, who covers strongman and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, is hopeful that the award will open up discussion about press freedom among people in various areas of the political spectrum.

“The award is certainly pro-journalism and tells people, ‘hey what [they’re] doing is important. Maybe you should read what they’re writing, read their reports,’” Ranada said.

Meanwhile, justice reporter Lian Buan initially felt “strange” covering Ressa in a good light, as she had usually covered her when she goes to court or post bail.

“It’s good to hope that things will get better after getting the Nobel Peace Prize, but one of the things that comforts me the most is that Rappler doesn’t need a Nobel, or Rappler would not be deterred by a conviction to do what it does, and that is journalism for Filipinos,” Buan said.

For Dr. Neric Acosta, a congressional bet in Bukidnon’s First District, Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize displays brave journalists’ battle against threats to fundamental freedoms and the shrinking of democratic spaces.

Acosta said Ressa’s Nobel prize, amid criticisms of it being ill-deserved, goes beyond her journalistic work or Rappler’s own fight against attacks on press freedom. 

“It is a clarion call for vigilance in an increasingly digitalized, highly connected world where truth itself is gravely compromised. I believe the Nobel Committee is sending forth the unmistakable message that is both hopeful and portentous: that in a world where everyone can virtually be an opinion-maker, it is, alas, also to democracy’s peril that we allow fake news and unbridled lying to fester or be ‘normalized’ even in the highest echelons of government and across sectors of society,” said Acosta.

For Fr. Raymond Ambray, Director of Ecology and Environment Desk of the Diocese of Tandag in Surigao del Sur, meanwhile, it brings pride to the Filipinos.

“It’s a proud moment for every Filipino to have a compatriot given this prestigious award. It sort of restores the morale out of the madness and chaos brought by the traditional politics and governance,” said Ambray.

JUST IN: Maria Ressa makes history, becomes the first Filipino individual to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. | via @ramboreports #NobelPrize #CourageON #HoldTheLine #DefendPressFreedom

WATCH: https://t.co/ggorW3342G

UPDATES: https://t.co/VplR6ngQNn pic.twitter.com/etIMyEGZJ6

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 10, 2021