Truth Behind the Theresia Bob Story-ANGORE Holdings CEO: Post Courier’s million dollar damages
Machinery at PDL8 in PNG: Photo Courtesy of: Pacific Mining Watch
Post Courier reporter Miriam L. Zarriga said – “ I was not aware of what transpired outside until NIO DG advised me you were out on bail and there was more to the story.”
PORT MORESBY: Post Courier has been a media monopoly since PNG’s nationhood. Yet, after 50 years, it still makes some of those good old mistakes of unbalanced, biased reporting, while some of its reporters go unchecked in the way they handle public information. In February this year (2025), one of its reporters, Miriam L. Zarriga recently slipped past “media ethics” in a rush to destroy a Theresia Bob, one of PNG’s top accountants and successful woman CEO of multiple companies.
Theresia Bob is a rare Western Highlander with deep financial and accounting mangement expertise. She is a successful Papua New Guinean business woman whose reputation as a successful entrepreneur has motivated many in the financial and accounting sector. An excellent auditor by global standards, Theresia Bob is a rare PNG breed in the world of Auditors who has mastered her industry as an accounting and financial expert.
Her story got our attention when PC reporter Miriam L. Zarriga reported that Theresia Bob was “locked in the cells without bail.” We found out that, what Zarriga reported was not true. So we decided to get an exclusive interview with Theresia Bob yesterday (20.04.2025) to get behind the truth of Post Courier’s “ill-published story” that destroyed not only a woman CEO, (given the PNG context where women do it hard). PC not only damaged Theresia but also the organsitaional reputation of Angore Holdings Ltd and that of all the stakeholders involved.
If Theresia Bob, Angore Holdings Ltd and their stakeholders were to put an actual price on the million dollar media damage caused by Post Courier, what could they possibly claim, apart from an apology? What would Theresia claim for the damage she suffered individually whereby her name was mentioned, images were published and no name suppression was given her while the matter was yet to be proven in the court of law? What about all the threats she recieved as a woman while her work, home and children were affected because of careless reporting? A story like this made us ask an important question- To what extent must media in PNG be held accountable for all the unnecessary damages it causes ordinary people? And how should compensation for extreme media damages be awarded?
Media in Papua New Guinea is young, but that does not mean that we, as media practitioners should be careless and unethical.
On 15th February, 2025, Post Courier reporter Miriam L. Zarriga published a damaging news story with the headline “woman refused bail for misappropriation of monies belonging to a local company.” In the story, Zarriga claimed Angore Holdings Limited employee and CEO, Theresia Bob was charged for stealing and misappropriating close to K800,000. This is not true. We have established the facts.
PNG Herald News Online and PNG Vision4040 Publishing Network found out in our exclusive interviews during Easter weekend (20th April, 2025), that these damaging media allegations by Post Courier were not true. Zarriga was careless, insensitive, biased, and lacked truth and fairness in her reporting. Therefore, we say, media in PNG must be held accountable and justice be awarded to citizens who suffer under the disguise of inappropriate reporting strategies that compromise the integrity of the media industry in PNG, while destroying ordinary citizens who have no power to fight back when media destroys them.
Post Courier as publisher, Zarriga as reporter, and the editors on shift failed to verify the legal and ethical grounds, while failing to cross-check with Theresia Bob or Angore Holdings Limited on the authenticity and veracity of the information before publishing the damaging content. This has left Theresia Bob as a “victim of unwarranted media damage.”
In our exclusive interview with the Angore Holdings CEO, we found out that the false information published by Post Courier has scandalised and exposed this “media victim” to hatred, contempt and ridicule by good thinking members of the public and those whom she conducts business with.
When we exclusively interviewed Theresia Bob yesterday (20th April, 2025), she was found in a devastating condition as she was in the process of recovering from financial losses and the trauma caused by Post Courier’s damaging and biased reports, which led to her loss of integrity. These media reports have not only destroyed her personal life and business reputation, but affected the operations of Angore Holdings Limited while she has tried to deal with all the public ridicule and shame caused by careless media reports by Zarriga and Post Courier. Question is- how do we put a price on such damages when it comes to media accountability compensation?
In a statement issued by the Chairman of Angore Holdings Limited, John Poi, it has been clarified that Angore Holdings Ltd is a legal entity; hence a company duly incorporated under the Companies Act 1997 and is 100% owned by the Landowners of Angore PDL 8 in Tari, Hela Province of Papua New Guinea.
This means that Ms Theresia Bob is a natural person and employed by Angore Holdings Limited as the CEO. She is neither a director nor shareholder. Therefore, what Post Courier failed to establish was that, Theresia Bob should not have been arrested at the first place for debts allegedly owed by Angore Holdings limited, a total separate entity from Theresia Bob.
The allegations on monies owed is also not true, as we have establised those facts from official records.
STATEMENT OF FACTS- Background (from AHL)
“Between 19th July 2022 and December 2022, Angore Holdings Ltd (AHL) engaged Mr Dickson H. Olabe’s company, Tagali Contractors Ltd, to supply an excavator for hire through HGDC to PDL8 Drilling Projects in Angore. An agreement was made, and the total initial invoice presented was K1.2 million. After due diligence and review of services rendered, the invoice was revised by mutual agreement to K494,000 plus GST, totaling K543,510. AHL applied a 30% management fee deduction, resulting in an outstanding balance of K345,870. Of this, only K110,457 remains unpaid, due to delayed payments from AHL’s own contractors.
Despite these facts, Mr. Olabe has falsely and maliciously claimed that AHL owes him K900,000, and has undertaken a campaign of online harassment and defamation.” Theresia Bob, CEO, AHL
