Palace: 'Press freedom predator' tag on Duterte 'bereft of merit'

Malacañang on Tuesday said Reporters Without Borders's (RSF) decision to include President Rodrigo Duterte in its list of "press freedom predators" lacks merit.

At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said even the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is planning to probe Duterte over his violent drug war, quotes news outlets critical of government in its reporting on the Philippines

“That is absolutely bereft of merit. Look at the ICC, its sources are media [organizations] critical of government,” Roque said.

Roque was referring to the 52-page report of former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asking ICC to probe the Duterte administration’s drug war since there is “reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity has been committed in the context of the drug war.”

“This shows press freedom in the Philippines is alive and well,” Roque said, referring to the report.

RSF, a Paris-based media watchdog, on Monday published a gallery of world leaders "who crack down massively on press freedom." It said Duterte's predatory method in the Philippines is by waging "total war" against independent media.

Duterte joined 36 other world leaders on the list.

Roque said Duterte should not be faulted for the closure of broadcasting network ABS-CBN and the revocation of news website Rappler’s license to operate.

According to the Palace spokesman, it was Congress which denied the franchise application of ABS-CBN while the revocation of Rappler’s license was issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Part and parcel of media groups is to advocate for freer media, pero wala pong basehan na tawaging Predator of Press Freedom ang Presidente [it is baseless to say the President is a Predator of Press Freedom],” Roque said.

Roque earlier said that former ICC prosecutor Bensouda’s findings are hearsay and will not stand as evidence in court since it is largely sourced on media reports. —KBK, GMA News