New York Times editorial lambasts Duterte for moving against Rappler

The editorial board of the New York Times lambasted anew President Rodrigo Duterte in an opinion piece critical of the government’s decision to revoke the license of multimedia news site Rappler.

The piece, titled “After Killing Spree, Is a Free Press Mr. Duterte’s Next Victim?” comes on the heels of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision revoking Rappler’s certificates of incorporation for supposedly violating the constitutional provision on foreign ownership of media companies.

“The action against Rappler is only the tip of Mr. Duterte’s assault on his media critics,” the editorial that came out on January 16 claimed.

The nascent news site’s management denied the charge, and protested that it was “pure and simple harassment” and said it may bring the case before the Supreme Court.

“The time would be well used by other governments and nongovernmental supporters of democracy to condemn this effort to silence independent voices,” the editorial said.

Rappler has encouraged its readers to “stand with us again at this difficult time.” The New York Times said: “We urge the same.”

Duterte’s supporters have made the country “a swamp of fake news, conspiracy theories and online harassment,” something which the President has “refused to condemn” and admit having a hand in, the editorial board claimed.

“Predictably, he also denied that the revocation of the Rappler’s license was political, and he said he didn’t care whether or not Rappler continued to operate,” it said.

The New York Times raised the core of the SEC ruling against the news site—its supposed “American ownership,” as alleged by the President himself in 2017.

It should not be surprising that Duterte—who “stands out” from the ensemble of “illiberal leaders” for his “viciousness”—moves against independent media, it said. “Exposing such brazen abuse of power is a hallowed mission of a free press, so it should come as no surprise that authoritarians like Mr. Duterte usually go after independent media.”

The New York Times first criticized Duterte for his administration’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, publishing in 2017 opinion pieces, an investigative report, and a documentary on killings related to the campaign against illegal drugs.

It also published a piece tracing Duterte’s political career, which Malacañang tagged as a “well-paid hackjob.”

“Of course, Mr. Duterte should be condemned first and foremost for his blatant violations of human rights,” the January 16 editorial claimed.  

“But the ability of a democracy to repair the damage caused by bad leaders requires the survival of critical democratic institutions, a free press among them,” it said.

A free press is “essential to explain why mass extrajudicial killings cannot be the right answer and to prepare the way for the restoration of the rule of law,” it added.

The editorial is the latest to condemn the SEC ruling against Rappler.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all hit the Duterte administration for moving against a news media organization. — Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/VDS, GMA News