Rhelyn Harder
- Jay Sonza was questioning Ressa’s citizenship as being Filipino by stating that both her parents were Indonesians
- His post was given attention by most of the supporters of Maria Ressa in defending that she is truly a Filipino with dual citizenship as an American
- Ressa had lived in Jakarta for a decade and clarified that she has dual citizenship as an American and a Filipino
Last February 20, Jay Sonza posted on his Twitter account a message questioning the citizenship of the co-founder of Rappler, Maria Ressa, who’s currently facing a cyber-libel case and 5 counts of tax evasion.
Jay Sonza was questioning Ressa’s citizenship of being Filipino by stating that both her parents were Indonesians. And he also wrote that she uses her US passport to gain support from the American Embassy, in declaring that Ressa as their citizen should be given a fair trial for her twin criminal cases here in the Philippines.
READ: “So you were lying?” Leah Navarro and Jay Sonza go toe-to-toe on Twitter
how can ressa be a Filipino when both her parents were Indonesians. she uses a US passport and the American embassy prays that their citizen be given fair trial for her twin criminal cases here.
— Jay Sonza (@JaySonza3) February 20, 2019
His post was given attention by most of the supporters of Maria Ressa in defending that she is truly a Filipino, with dual citizenship as American.
Bakit sobra-sobra kabobohan ng mga dutertards? @mariaressa was born in Philippines and was adopted by Italian-American who brought her to New Jersey when she was 10 years old. She became US citizen but eventually regained her Filipino citizenship, which is, LEGAL. pic.twitter.com/qq5s1OU83J
— Batang Kayumanggi (@BataKayumanggi) February 20, 2019
A comment also advised Jay Sonza to give a more reliable source to support his statement.
ngayon na sinabi mo yan, para ngang di siya pinoy, look at her skin and her face and di yan nag tatagalog hehehe dapat bosing jay eh mag bigay kayo ng source para mas matindi
— pinoy hindi engkanto (@ratyobliqueer) February 20, 2019
But there are also those that support Jay Sonza’s Twitter post – believing she is not a Filipino citizen.
I'm trying to ignore your misinformation drive Jay but that's a lie and you know it. Ganador na yang si Ressa. She covered the rise of terrorism and now the rise of misinformation. She's good in bahasa Indonesia so she's now Indonesian? Hindi ba puwedeng mabilis lang matuto? SMH.
— Marcus® (@0TENG) February 20, 2019
I'm trying to ignore your misinformation drive Jay but that's a lie and you know it. Ganador na yang si Ressa. She covered the rise of terrorism and now the rise of misinformation. She's good in bahasa Indonesia so she's now Indonesian? Hindi ba puwedeng mabilis lang matuto? SMH.
— Marcus® (@0TENG) February 20, 2019
On the other side, Maria Ressa also posted a reply when @jamesamparo763 addressed the question in clarifying if her parents were really Indonesians and if she is an American citizen.
Maria,is it true that both of ur parents are Indonesian and you are an American Citizen? pic.twitter.com/teYg0fgBia
— James Amparo (@jamesamparo763) February 21, 2019
This caught her attention and she wrote a post giving a direct answer to the question that her parents were not Indonesians. That it was only her who had lived in Jakarta for a decade and also clarified that she has dual citizenship as an American and Filipino.
While I lived in Jakarta for a decade, my parents are not Indonesian hahahahha I have dual citizenship – US and PH … tremendous resources being spent for online disinformation — like the legal acrobatics. https://t.co/ssoeUkP53e
— Maria Ressa (@mariaressa) February 21, 2019
The support from the people had just poured out for her statement justifying her citizenship that some even find more sources from the internet to contradict the supporters of Jay Sonza.
Just because you can speak Bahasa, while you covered for CNN, they already assumed that your parents are an Indonesian.
Google is just one click away. pic.twitter.com/ovLgbg4wWt
— AkoNgaSyLico 裏科 (@SyLicoNgaAko) February 21, 2019
Some have speculated that the reason for Jay Sonza questioning her citizenship was to show his support to the Duterte administration.
What happened to you @JaySonza3? Duterte’s almost 3 years in the office. If he’s really interested in getting you, sa dami ng effort mo dati pa. Time to give up the illusion!
— Maria RVC (@RaizAgain) February 21, 2019
She is facing all your gossips. Si Jay sonsang naghahanap ng big break sa admin ni digong
— Bandidu (@Bonbek) February 21, 2019
