Gov’t wrong to pick a war vs media

 “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind” 

―Jim Morrison

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE have been saying from the very start that the Duterte administration “was wrong” to pick on a woman media personality, or any male media personality for that matter, for an “enemy” especially if the media personalities and the entity they represent were only doing their job.

Media criticism in a democratic country isn’t a crime.

The job of being “fiscalizers” or watchdogs of government by media people is guaranteed and enshrined in the Constitution.

In fact, framers of the fundamental law of the land had cautioned those in power to legislate laws that “no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press…” 

It is the nature of the press in a free country to expose anomalies and correct the mistakes of elected public officials.  

Any democratic state can’t function effectively without the check and balance; it’s part of the function of the Fourth Estate to scrutinize all government transactions in the name of transparency.

Thus when an agitated government suppresses the media or become “too hard” against the reporters, the heat of the conflict will reverberate and spread all over the world.

 

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Thus we weren’t surprised when the European Parliament recently passed a resolution calling on the Philippine government to drop charges against acclaimed journalist Maria Ressa during a session on September 17.

In June this year, the Manila trial court found guilty Ressa, the founder and CEO of the online news service Rappler, and Reynaldo Santos Jr., a former Rappler staffer, of "cyber libel".

Parliament members overwhelmingly approved a broad measure that addresses the rise in human rights violations since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016. 

CBS News reported that the resolution calls out the extrajudicial killings of thousands of Filipinos as part of Duterte's anti-drug campaign, as well as violence against women and retaliation against journalists, including Ressa.

The European Union's law-making body reportedly urged the Philippines to drop all charges against Ressa and Santos, who have appealed their convictions and posted bail.

 

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In 2012, Ressa founded the online news site Rappler, a company founded not to be liable in the case, and has received international acclaim for her reporting in the face of personal and legal threats. 

Ressa and human rights groups insist the Duterte government has targeted Rappler and and the award-winning female jounralist “in response for its critical reporting, including its coverage of Duterte's deadly ‘war on drugs.’" 

European Parliament member Hannah Neumann of Germany reportedly brought up Ressa's plight during the session, and said she wants to revoke privileges the Philippines has under the EU's Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) trade arrangement, which allows developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the EU.  

Neumann directed her ire at Duterte, who despite being accused of human rights violations, "still enjoys trade privileges of the EU under the GSP+ scheme that are supposedly linked to improvements in human rights, but the situation is just getting worse."

She said: "We don't have that many tools as the European Union to protect human rights and democracy, and maybe our trade policy is the strongest one.” 

CBS News reported that “the resolution reminds the Philippines about its human rights obligations under international law, and said that ‘in the absence of any substantive improvements’ the removal of GSP+ trade preferences ‘should be considered.’" 

The Philippines ranks 136th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index put together by Reporters Without Borders, whose analysts say journalists there face threats of violence, legal charges, and online harassment.

The country's biggest broadcaster, ABS-CBN, was forced off the air in May this year snd its franchise was never renewed. Thousands of workers lost their job amid the pandemic.

The European Parliament's resolution on Thursday also reportedly calls on the Philippines to renew the network's broadcasting license.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)