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PH media to spend World Press Freedom Day under gov’t attack — HRW
A rights group said Filipino journalists will be spending the 25th celebration of World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, May 3, under government attack. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Stephen Hickok/Released via Naval Surface Warriors/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
A rights group said that Filipino journalists will be spending the 25th celebration of World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, May 3, under government attack.
In a statement, Carlos Conde, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Researcher-Asia Division, said new draft regulations issued by the House of Representatives would allow Congress to ban reporters “who besmirch the reputation of lawmakers” from covering the national legislature.
“Journalists and some members of Congress have denounced the proposed rule as dangerously ambiguous and stifling.
And to many Filipinos, this restriction on freedom of expression is an affront to their pride in their country’s free if freewheeling press,” Conde said.
These restrictions, he noted, are the latest in a series of attacks on the Philippine media by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and its supporters, which aimed at silencing critical voices.
“While the government has been especially ferocious against people and organizations demanding accountability for the government’s drug war, which has killed more than 12,000 people since July 2016, any criticism of the administration seems subject to reprisal,” the rights defender stressed.
Conde said Duterte has made “incendiary public statements” against journalists, even justifying death threats against them.
“The main target has been the news website Rappler, which has been highly critical of the administration. Since February, the government has blacklisted Rappler reporters from covering Malacanang Palace, the president’s residence,” he noted.
It was in March when the government also initiated tax evasion and libel cases against Rappler. An ongoing investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Rappler’s ownership could lead in the media outlet’s closure.
“The government has likewise targeted the owners of the Philippines’ largest and most influential newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer,” Conde said.
“Most recently, the government restricted media access to a popular island resort and, last week, sought to bar accredited foreign correspondents from covering the Philippines at an (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ASEAN event in Singapore,” he added.
The rights group said that in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders reduced the Philippines’ press freedom global ranking from 127 to 133 out of 180 countries.
In addition to the government’s move against media, four journalists were murdered last year, “making the Philippines the deadliest country for journalists in Asia.”
The group added that the assault on media freedom “resonates loudly” in the world’s celebration of Press Freedom Day.
“Filipino journalists, true to the tradition of political muckraking, corruption exposés, and wartime reporting, have often put their lives on the line, serving the Philippine people and democratic values in the process,” the rights defender said.
“It’s important that their efforts are supported – including by the Philippine Congress,” he continued.
