Hindi umano naiinggit ang kontrobersyal na National Artist for Literature at Ramon Magsaysay Awardee na si F. Sionil Jose sa pagkakasungkit ng journalist na si Maria Ressa sa Nobel Peace Prize.
Ayon sa latest Facebook post niya, bagama't isang karangalan ang pagtatamo ng isang pagkilala gaya ng prestihiyosong Nobel Prize, wala umanong dahilan para mainggit siya kay Ressa. Isa pa, ang forte niya ay nasa Panitikan.
"I am not envious of Maria Ressa getting the Nobel. It is for Peace, not Literature. Of course, I wanted it very much. With it I wanted to do many things outside of writing," aniya.
Isa raw sa mga tinitingala niya na si Norman Mailer na isang literary writer at matalinong tao ay hindi nagkaroon ng Nobel Prize, siya raw pa kaya? Masaya umano siya na minsan ay naging nominado siya sa pagkakaroon nito.
As I grew older, I realized I was competing with the world’s best, among them, Norman Mailer, who I admired very much, not just as a literary writer but as a public intellectual. When he dies without getting the Nobel, I stopped dreaming about it knowing I will not get it. If by some miracle I’ll get it next year, the salute, at my age, is meaningless. It is enough that I was nominated. But a million dollars, I can do a lot with it!"
Kamakailan lamang ay naging kontrobersyal ang manunulat dahil sa pahayag niyang hindi deserving si Ressa na makuha ang Nobel Peace Prize. Pati ang journalist ng GMA Network na si Howie Severino ay nakisawsaw na rin. Nitong Oktubre 11, sinabi ni F. Sionil Jose na pinapatawad niya ang mga taong naninira at nanlalait sa kaniya.
BASAHIN: https://balita.net.ph/2021/10/11/natl-artist-f-sionil-jose-sinagot-ang-mga-bashers/
“To all of you who reviled and wished me ill for questioning Maria Ressa’s Nobel Prize—I forgive you.” ani Jose.
“You hate Duterte so much you cannot see any good in the man and you think I have sold out to him. I don’t even know him; I have criticized him,” ayon sa pa national artist.
Sa huling bahagi ng post, nag-iwan siya ng tanong para sa mga taong naninira sa kanya: “Then ask yourself: What heroic sacrifice has Maria Ressa done for freedom and the Philippines. And who is funding her.”