Int’l mission finds ‘increased intimidation’ vs. PHL press

A mission of international journalists on Tuesday said it has found "increasing levels of intimidation and a shrinking space for the free press" in the Philippines.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it is "extremely concerned" about what it said was pressure faced by Filipino journalists, citing the 11 legal cases against online news site Rappler and government officials' "attacks" against the press.

Rappler faces separate cases for tax evasion, cyber libel, and for violation of the Anti-Dummy Law. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked its certificate of incorporation over an alleged violation of the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of media.

The case has gone to the Court of Appeals and been remanded to the SEC for review after a foreign investment firm donated its shares to Rappler's Filipino managers.

Rappler has repeatedly called the cases acts of harassment. For its part, the mission said the cases appear "politically motivated" and have "created a sense of fear throughout the media industry, leading to self-censorship."

Led by CPJ board chair Kathleen Carroll and joined by Australia-based Alliance for Journalists' Freedom director Peter Greste, and CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler, the mission interviewed journalists and officials from the Presidential Task Force on Media Security and the Department of Justice.

During a Tuesday press conference, they said the journalists they talked to cited the practice of red-tagging, or accusing reporters of affiliation to communists, while smaller news websites that cover "controversial" human rights topics reported cyber attacks.

Last month, four alternative media groups filed a civil suit against two information technology companies they allegedly traced as the source of Distributed Denial of Service attacks that shut down their websites between December and February.

"The oppressive working environment for journalists in the Philippines is alarming," Carroll said in a statement.

Greste said government forces are "finding new and sophisticated ways to shut down press freedom so the attacks on Rappler and others have a chilling effect across all journalists."

"That is profoundly damaging the country's democracy," he said.

PTFoMS: 'Unfair'

Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco on Tuesday slammed the CPJ's findings as "unfair." 

"Funny how our friends from CPJ managed to come out with such an unfair findings on the state of PH media in less than 24 hours. Astonishing!" Egco said in a Facebook post.

"I am calling them out for this twisted, unjust and unfair depiction of how things are out here, which clearly reflects the bias of some sectors in the media, who do not represent the entire media environment in the country," he added.

Egco further said that prior to the release of CPJ's statement, its members even visited the PTFoMS headquarters and that they were briefed about the state of the Philippine media.

"During the meeting, it was obvious that the CPJ delegation was pressing very particular issues on DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks as claimed by those who 'believe' the government was behind such attacks," he said.

He claimed that the CPJ's mission was just a ploy to create a distorted picture of the state of press freedom in the Philippines.

'No one is above the law'

In a statement Tuesday evening, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo called CPJ's "expression of sympathy" towards Ressa a "a hasty generalization that has no basis in fact nor in law."

"Ms. Ressa or Rappler does not represent the entire media in the Philippines. There are local journalists who are similarly critical, even outrageously hostile and biased of the policies of the administration, but they continue to enjoy the practice of their profession free from charges or suits by reason of their not violating any law outside of the practice of their profession," Panelo said.

He also accused the Rappler founder of hiding behind press freedom "when she is criminally charged for a violation of law not related to her exercise of her right to free speech."

"Ours is a system of law and no one is above it nor exempt from it," Panelo added.

Panelo also claimed that the Philippines was removed from Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) list of the deadliest countries for media workers last year.

However, the Philippines fell six places—from 127th last year to 133rd—in the RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, and the organization's summary for the Philippines details Duterte's attacks on the media. It also describes the Philippines as one of "the world’s deadliest countries for journalists and bloggers." — BM, GMA News