Attacks on press freedom persist despite pandemic – CEGP

Human rights violations and attacks on press freedom persist in the country despite the coronavirus pandemic, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) said Tuesday.

The alliance of tertiary student publications issued the warning after a radio reporter was shot dead in Dumaguete City just hours after the government ordered broadcast network ABS-CBN Corp. to cease operations following the lapse of its franchise.

"Even under the ongoing crisis of COVID-19 and implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, countless human rights violations and press freedom attacks persist with the culture of impunity running deep in the veins of officials and officers turning blind eyes," CEGP national president Daryl Angelo Baybado said.

The group also noted that slain radioman Rex Cornelio would be the 16th journalist killed under the Duterte administration if his murder is proved to be connected to his work.

"The 16th journalist slain and the signing off of ABS-CBN goes to show the persistent and deadly attempts of Duterte's administration in ripping off the fangs of our society's watchdogs," Baybado said. — DVM, GMA News