Name: Careen S.

Gepolongca

Course: BEED-3

Press freedom is no joke in the Philippines

7 November 2021

Author: Danilo Araña Arao, University of the Philippines Diliman

By awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov on 8 October 2021,
the Norwegian Nobel Committee put the spotlight on the state of press freedom in the Philippines and
Russia — and rightly so.

The Philippines is ranked 130th and Russia 152nd in the Reporters Without Borders 2021 World Press
Freedom Index. The Philippines and Russia also ranked 7th and 10th, respectively, in the Committee to
Protect Journalists 2021 Global Impunity Index.

While the media situations in both countries deserve scrutiny, the Philippines is a peculiarly interesting
case. The Philippine press is commonly perceived to be among the freest in Asia, but it remains one of
the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. Press freedom and human rights
defenders continue to denounce the prevailing culture of impunity that the government claims ended
under the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

The cases filed against leading online media organisation Rappler and its CEO Maria Ressa made global
headlines. Duterte criticised Rappler for being peddler of ‘fake news’ and its license was revoked in 2018
— ironic given Ressa’s investigative work exposing disinformation on social media. In June 2020, Ressa
and former Rappler journalist Reynaldo Santos, Jr. were convicted of cyber libel.

Like the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who ordered broadcast network ABS–CBN’s closure in 1972,
Duterte said in 2019 that ABS–CBN would be ‘out’ when its franchise expired in 2020. In a House of
Representatives vote in July 2020, the broadcast network was shut down.

Under the Duterte administration, news media organisations and journalists have been red-tagged or
accused of being communist sympathisers, and at least two journalists have been arrested and
detained. There have also been cyberattacks launched at the websites of news media organisations in an
attempt to prevent them from doing their work. While the distributed denial-of-service attacks — which
overwhelm servers with too many data requests to shut it down — have been happening since 2018,
the most recent attack on two news media organisations was carried out by the Philippine Army.
At least 190 journalists have been killed since 1986, 21 of them under the Duterte administration. The
prevailing climate of media repression sends a chilling message to journalists and media workers in the
country that they should toe the administration line.

National and local elections in the Philippines will be held in May 2022. It is uncertain to what extent the
state of press freedom will be raised as an election issue.

Candidates are expected to mouth the usual rhetoric about preserving democracy, including the
importance of a vibrant press. As might be expected, Duterte and his supporters have denied media
repression. They claimed that ABS–CBN’s shutdown and Rappler’s legal woes are isolated cases that do
not affect other news media organisations in the country.

As certain government officials continue to engage in red-tagging journalists and news media
organisations, government agencies argue that their officials are merely expressing their personal
opinions and not official policy. The Philippine National Police denies the existence of a culture of
impunity that violates the rights of journalists and other sectors of society.

Journalists, media workers and other concerned groups need to push for press freedom to be an
election issue. Candidates in the 2022 polls should explain clearly where they stand, beyond the usual
rhetoric of defending democracy and basic freedoms.

For a president who is known for joking about serious matters, Duterte now finds it awkward to
congratulate Ressa. His spokesperson belatedly acknowledged Ressa for being the first Filipino Nobel
Peace Prize awardee while trying to downplay notions that the award was a ‘slap’ in the government’s
face. It’s not credible for Duterte sincerely to congratulate Ressa, whose journalistic achievement is
borne out of fighting the repression he perpetuates.

In the Philippines, threats to press freedom are real. It should not be reduced to a mere joke, especially
for those who claim to be defending it while engaging in repression.

Reference:

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/11/07/press-freedom-is-no-joke-in-the-philippines/
 Press freedom is no joke in the Philippines reaction paper

The Press freedom is no joke in the Philippines was written by Danilo Araña Arao in 2021. The article
focuses between President Rodrigo Duterte againts the organization Rappler and it's CEO Maria Ressa
and it talks about the freedom and human rights of the press and journalist here in the Philippines. His
key points in this article is that the Philippine press is commonly perceived to be among the freest in
Asia, but it remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. I believe that
the Philippines is indeed one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, even before
Duterte stepped up the harassment.

It is mentioned in this article that two journalists have been arrested and detained under the Duterte
administration, and news media outlets and journalists have been red-tagged or accused of
sympathizing with communists. Additionally, websites of news media organizations have been the target
of cyberattacks meant to stop them from carrying out their duties. It is really heartbreaking because we
all know that our press doing their job to delivered the news and Rappler were doing its job, and why it
has become a favourite target of the Duterte government. Rappler journalists face online abuse on a
daily basis.Freedom of the press is the most important wheel of democracy. Without a free press, a
democracy cannot exist. In fact, the press is a great medium that conveys the truth to people. However,
it cannot function fully if the press is not free.

This article demonstrated the way how the press are not free and how dangerous place for all of them
when publishing news. Press freedom is important since free press uncovers the truth. Journalists are
taught toevaluate and explain a variety of subjects, many of which are complex. The ordinary individual
would have little to no information of what is going on around them if newspapers, radiobroadcasts,
blogs, and other media were not available. The majority of people do not have the time or resources to
research issues and stories that concern them and their communities. Only the press have the ability to
find the truth because of their critical thinking. Journalists play a role in this. And it is really not a mere
joke for those people who tried to reveal the truth but vice versa happened, journalists who try to tell
the truth they will be killed or arrested. This makes censorship and suppression inevitable. This place
we're really dangerous for those journalist and press trying to revealed the truth.