Press orgs condemn death threat vs. reporter Jomar Canlas

Press groups on Wednesday condemned the death threat against Manila Times senior reporter Jomar Canlas, calling on authorities to probe what they viewed as “another case of intimidation and harassment of journalists.”

The National Press Club (NPC) and the two press corps assigned at the justice beat, the Justice Reporters Organization (JUROR) and the Justice and Court Reporters Association (JUCRA), issued separate statements in support of Canlas.

Canlas received the death threat after he testified in the impeachment hearing by the House justice committee against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on November 27.

Canlas said he got two identical text messages on the afternoon of December 1 telling him to say his last wishes to his wife and children.  

On Monday, Canlas went to the Manila Police District which reportedly decided to give him protection.

“This incident clearly showed that violence and threats of violence against the media are not only prevalent in the countryside where the majority of victims are community-based journalists but that they can happen anywhere to included urban-based journalists like Canlas,” said NPC president Paul Gutierrez.

“This incident also showed that despite the collective efforts of the media community and other stakeholders, the culture of impunity in the country remains strong and that much work still needs to be done,” he added.

Gutierrez lauded the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), of which the NPC is a member, for “taking immediate notice” on the death threat.

JUROR said the threat against Canlas, one of its founding members, was a “direct attack on press freedom, which has no place in democracy."

“Journalists faithfully doing their job to keep the public well-informed, especially on matters pertaining to government affairs, should never be a target of attacks and intimidation,” JUROR said.

The group also vowed not to shirk its responsibility to tell the truth about government affairs.

"To renege on our responsibility in upholding the truth at all times is to betray our social contract with the people. To stifle that responsibility in whatever manner, is a betrayal of truth itself,” JUROR said.

For its part, JUCRA said intimidation and harassment of journalists should not be tolerated.

"We call on authorities to investigate the matter and run after the person/persons responsible for this dastardly criminal act,” the group said.

Canlas had said the threats may have something to do with his testimony at the House justice committee where he talked about the story he had written regarding the allegation that Sereno falsified a court resolution in 2013. 

During the hearing, Canlas denied he told complainant, lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon, that Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita de Castro was the source of information that Sereno allegedly tampered with the temporary restraining order (TRO) in connection with the petition filed by Senior Citizens party-list.

Two days later, De Castro confirmed to the committee that she contested the TRO issued by Sereno on behalf of the SC on May 29, 2013, accusing the chief magistrate of omitting her recommendation to stop the disqualification of the Senior Citizens party-list only, and not the party-list proclamation itself.

De Castro had also denied giving any information to Canlas, who declined to disclose to lawmakers his sources, invoking Republic Act (RA) No. 53, as amended by RA No. 1477, also known as the Shield Law or Sotto Law. —KBK, GMA News