Press freedom has an essential role to play in our democracy, one that existed even before the creation of Article III Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines specifies that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of expression — respect for the press however is deteriorating in our country.
The current state of the Philippine media grew poorer during the pandemic and Pres. Duterte’s administration, it seems that the only intention of this administration during these critical years was to destroy the freedom of the press in this country — on May 5, 2020, they triumphed.
For the last 6 years, the candlelit illuminating these darkest hours have been overshadowed as journalists have been referred to as “prostitutes,” “fake news,” “spies,” “lowlifes,” and “enemies” by the president and his supporters, who have spread confusion between legal foreign funding of mass media and illegal foreign ownership. Distributed denial of service attacks and “red-tagging,” in which people are labeled as communists or terrorists, have plagued alternative media outlets. This abuse of power blew the candle out when the largest broadcasting media company ABS-CBN was shut down — the present gives us a glimpse of a dark future ahead.
From their first day on the job to the end of their career; a journalist’s foot has always been six feet under. According to the United Nations, “Journalism is one of the most dangerous professions in the world.” Attacks, intimidation, and even murder. Journalists across the world face serious risks and threats every day, just for doing their jobs — reporting the news and bringing information to the public.
Media institutions have strongly defended any violation of these valued legal and constitutional freedoms. However, as recent events have demonstrated, such liberty is far from absolute. At least 192 journalists and media workers have been slain since the restoration of democracy in 1986, according to numbers collated by press freedom groups Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Of the fatalities, 32 were victims of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao, the single bloodiest attack on journalists in history. The Duterte administration has only continued this terrible legacy.
The Freedom for Media, Freedom for All coalition compiled and analyzed statistics on all threats and attacks against the media from 2016 to 2021. There have been 230 instances reported (including arrests and detention, libel cases, intimidation, red tagging, and cyberattacks). Journalists have been beaten and, in some cases, murdered, in addition to facing lawsuits and verbal abuse, and 21 journalists have been slain since 2016, the majority of them working in the community press.
After Duterte’s proud declaration of executive intervention in ABS-CBN franchise denial, his final act as president before his term ends tomorrow is to silence journalism companies that are critical to the government.
This dreadful legacy was upheld by Marcos Jr., the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered the blocking of alternative media websites in October 2022, and now the Security and Exchange Commission revoked the certificate of incorporation.
The government has repeatedly employed a variety of legal mechanisms to bypass the Constitution and exert control over the press or, in certain cases, to retaliate against it. Legislative franchises and the NTC guidelines govern television and radio networks.
Tax and securities regulations apply to media corporations. Libel, cyber-libel, and other criminal charges can be brought against publishers, editors, and reporters. Not surprisingly, the Philippines retained its ranking as the seventh worst country when it comes to prosecuting killers of journalists, according to the latest report of the CPJ.
Years after being labeled as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Global Impunity Index, as described in the previous 2020 report. The country still has 14 unsolved media killings with the recent slay case of two veteran radio broadcasters Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa a vocal critic of Duterte and Marcos Jr., and Renato Blanco, who reported on local politics and corruption.
Today, along with the worsening economic crisis in our country and world, the blows to the freedom of our journalists are also worsening. Proof of this is the drop in the Philippines’ ranking in this year, the ninth place to end 147th among 180 countries.
This is the fifth time that the country dipped in ranking in the list by RSF. In 2021, the country ranked 138th, then 136th in 2020, 134th in 2019, and 133rd in 2018. The crisis will not deter the Filipino spirit, and it will surely not stop journalists from reporting on it, especially at a time when people are turning to digital platforms to make sense of the turmoil that is sweeping the globe.
In this era of fake news, let the facts shine the light — that would be enough to start the narrative of truth. We are living amongst the dangerous pre-conditioned people who have likened the misinformation and disinformation being spread around the world. This will diminish the fundamental freedoms of speech and of the press that serve as Filipinos’ bedrocks of a democratic society.
Even before the pandemic, journalists have shown that they will heed the call in the battle for the truth; media institutions have been continuously defending the freedom of the press against the suppression and abuse of power that are threats to our democracy.
We will always remember how this administration prioritized politics over the Filipinos’ right to information amidst this crisis. And it will continue as one fascist regime transitions to another.
Press freedom is an essential pillar of our democracy; freedom of speech, life, and the press are things whose equivalent is of great value — only tyrants fear a free and critical press.
