Not one, but a number of people bought Rappler CEO and Nobel Peace Prize-winning Maria Ressa’s latest book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future, at her book signings, contrary to a claim of a pro-Duterte vlogger.
A photo on Ressa’s Dec. 7 Facebook post about her Dec. 3 talk and book signing at the United States Library of Congress in Washington D.C. shows a line of more than two dozen people waiting with copies of her book at the venue.
On Dec. 10, at 4 p.m., Ressa launched her book at Estancia Mall in Pasig City. Among those who bought a copy of the book and posted their pictures that day were columnist Noemi L. Dado, network development consultant Orlan P. Fernandez, netizen Paul Lim (@paullim0314) and landscape architect Paulo Alcazaren.
However, in a YouTube live stream held at 10:04 p.m. or six hours after the Philippine launch, pro-Duterte vlogger Badong Aratiles claimed at the 12:00 mark that only one person was seen at the signing and bought a copy of Ressa’s book, saying:
‘Blockbuster’ po si Maria Ressa sa kanyang pagtitinda ng kanyang libro. Tanong niyo po kung ilan. Ang haba po ng pila — isa. Isa, isa lang po ang bumili ng libro (Maria Ressa was a blockbuster in selling her book. Ask me how many [bought it]. The line was long — one. One, only one bought a copy of the book),
…Nag-book signing, isa lang po ang nakita nating tao (There was a book signing, and we only saw one person).
The video has at least 39,000 views and 2,900 likes as of writing. Badong Aratiles has publicly stated his support for former president Rodrigo Duterte on multiple occasions, including this video. (RR)