Jiggy Manicad says he did not turn his back on media

Broadcast journalist and senatorial aspirant Jiggy Manicad did not turn his back on Philippine media for politics.

He maintained that there were no orchestrated threats against the media industry.

On GMA’s “Debate 2019,” Manicad said there were no orchestrated threats against the institution as a whole, but there were threats against particular publications.

“Orchestrated, wala po. Individual, meron po kasi mayroon pong mga kinasuhan, at isa nga po diyan ang Rappler,” he said, when asked about threats against Philippine media.

In January 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp. for supposedly violating foreign ownership restrictions on mass media companies.

Omidyar Network, one of the companies holding Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) of Rappler Inc., was prompted by the controversy to donate its investment in favor of the media company’s staff as a way of disproving the SEC.

“Nasa Rappler po ‘yan kung pano nila papatunayan na ang alegasyon laban sa kanila, pagpasok ng foreign funding diumano, ay hindi po nakakasama at lumalabag sa ating Konstitusyon, at nasa kanila po ‘yan para patunayan nila,” Manicad said.

In March 2018, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a cyberlibel complaint against Rappler in connection with an article published 2012, even after the bureau said it will not do so.

In November 2018, the Department of Justice found probable cause to charge Rappler Holdings Corp. with tax evasion on the basis a complaint filed separately by the Bureau of Internal Revenue a year earlier.

Rappler and its CEO Maria Ressa are currently facing four tax evasion cases before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

Ressa has since claimed that the charges against her and her company were politically motivated and tantamount to harassment.

President Rodrigo Duterte also mouthed invectives at two other media companies— ABS-CBN and Philippine Daily Inquirer—for what he claimed were unfair reporting.

Manicad said he did not turn his back on the media, as claimed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a recent editorial.

“Hindi ko po kayo kaya biguin o traydorin. Ang sinasabi ko po ay bukod sa press freedom, hindi lang po ‘yan basta-basta nakukuha. Kailangan po ng truthfulness, honesty, integrity, at impartiality sa pamamahayag,” he said.

“‘Pag na-accomplish at na-comply niyo po ‘yan, kahit sinong bumatikos at tumira sa inyong pamahalaan, sigurado pong hindi magtatagumpay dahil ‘yan po ay isa sa requirement ng press freedom,” he added.

To fight fake news, Manicad is urging for stricter anti-cybercrime laws.

“Dapat po magkaroon talaga ng malinaw, mas may pangil na anti-cybercrime law [para] mahanap po at magkaroon ng regulasyon sa mga social media accounts na ito, ma-trace ‘yung mga creators ng fake news nasa loob man ito o nasa labas ng bansa,” he said.

—VDS, GMA News