No, we are under
attacked. And we need you to protect it.
Every time I hear
the word “press
freedom”, I often recall my reaction way back
in 2018 when a PCOO official answered my question about press freedom
violations happening in our country. “The press is free. They are not under
attacked,” the said official explained like it seems so much annoyed with my
question in front of the participants in that seminar hosted by the said
government agency.
It’s quite
alarming to hear it from the agency run by former journalists like its
Secretary Martin Andanar. What is more alarming are the number of campus press
advisers, campus journalists and media practitioners (such as National Press
Club) agreeing to the said notion.
According to Chua
(2006), the Philippines is
the only nation in the region that has a constitutional protection and laws in
exercising freedom of the press. Despite the circumstance, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) documented that the Philippines
is among the top five of the world’s most dangerous
countries for journalists in the year 2017. Reporters Without Borders also
known as Reporters sans frontières (RSF), is an international non-profit
organization based in Paris, France that defends the freedom of information and
the press throughout the world.
In fact, RSF’s data where used by the administration and
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Andanar in
lauding their efforts showing concerns to the press by establishing
Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on October 11, 2016.
(Musico, 2018) However, the article published in the official website of the
Philippine News Agency run by PCOO was misleading. Yes, it is true that the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) evaluated the country with an 'improved
status' in its 2018 Global Impunity Index, but it
does not change the fact that we are still
ranked 5th among countries worldwide who are enjoying the culture of impunity and these murderers of journalists unprosecuted to court.
The press freedom
indexed of our country as documented by Reporters Without Borders is slipping
every year. From 133rd in the year 2018, it was assessed 134th
in 2019 and slips two places this year with 136th place out of 180
countries across the world.
Why is press freedom important and why do
countries need it?
The country has a
long history of press freedom violations and it worsens today. From the shutting down and controlling various media
organization to the killing, torturing, and physical attacks the media practitioners endure during Martial law, the culture of impunity, oppression and tactics to silence the press continues up
until now.
The administration
is in the act of shutting down ABS-CBN and Rappler, they were prohibiting Rappler’s journalist
Pia Ranada to cover the press conferences at Malacañang, the widespread
disinformation that favors them using political trolls around the new media,
threatening journalists to lose their jobs through an accreditation of the
journalists that could be weaponized to silence them, series of verbal attacks
made by the President against them on national tv and not to mention his avid
supporters as well, series of red-baiting such as calling National Union of
Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) members as NPAs, killings that up
until now are in searched for justice. These are some
of the violations observed during this administration and they will just say
that “they are not attacked”? Although yes, we can freely write and document
our stories, however the chilling effect of being scared and to be silenced is
still there and it greatly impacts the lives
of every journalist today.
Press
freedom is crucial in the society’s development. According to Tandoc and Takashi (2012), press
freedom leads a country to happiness and environment quality. If you will observe,
the countries who are enjoying the top spot of the World Press Freedom index
are those develop and progressive countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark
and others. (most of them are European countries) Press Freedom upholds
democracy in the country, empowers the watchdog in our society that could lead
to transparency, accountability and good governance, and expresses the
voiceless people in the community that need to be heard.
In celebration of
the World Press Freedom Day, the theme “Journalism without fear or favour”
reminds us to fight with our journalists in their struggle for genuine press
freedom. We need to recognize them more than we have recognized their efforts
before. We need to appreciate them and give them solidarity amid the attacks
and the fear of losing their role to society. United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 as
World Press Freedom Day marking the anniversary of 1991 Windhoek Declaration, a
statement of free press principles in order to raise awareness of the
importance of freedom of the press and remind the government of their duty to
respect and uphold press freedom enshrined under Article 19 of 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
The struggle for
genuine freedom does not end. We need to hold the line. Give solidarity and
Protect the sentinel at all costs. Above all, we must remember that journalists don’t need us the
most, it’s a matter of we need them more, more than we could ever think of.
References:
Cepeda, M. (2019). Philippines down 1 spot in 2019 World Press Freedom Index. Retrieved from: https://www.rappler.com/nation/228451-philippines-ranking-2019-world-press-freedom-index
CNN Philippines (2020). Philippines falls two places in press freedom
index. Retrieved
from: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/22/Philippines-press-freedom-index-2020.html
De Guzman, C. (2018). PH
dips in 2018 World Press Freedom Index ranking. Retrieved from: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/04/26/PH-2018-World-Press-Freedom-Index-ranking.html
Gavilan, J. (2017). Philippines 'deadliest country' in Asia for journalists in 2017 – media watchdog. Retrieved from: https://www.rappler.com/nation/191744-philippines-deadliest-country-journalists-asia-reporters-without-borders-2017-report
Musico, J. (2018). PH out of top 5 deadliest countries for media in 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057123
Rappler (2018). Despite improved status, PH ranks 5th on Global Impunity Index. Retrieved from: https://www.rappler.com/nation/215795-philippines-ranking-global-impunity-index-2018
Tandoc, E. &
Takahashi, B. (2012).The complex road to happiness. The influence of human
development, a healthy environment and a free press. Social Indicators
Research, 1(113), 537-550. doi: 10.1007/s11205-012-0109-6.
Witchelle, E. (2018). CPJ's 2018
Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and
their killers go free. Retrieved from: https://cpj.org/reports/2018/10/impunity-index-getting-away-with-murder-killed-justice.php
