Rappler says DepEd canceled its training agreements with the news site

The Department of Education (DepEd) has terminated two training agreements with Rappler, the embattled media organization said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Rappler showed a letter addressed to its CEO Maria Ressa and signed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones, cancelling a memorandum of agreement signed between DepEd and Rappler on May 17, 2017.

"[O]n Wednesday, without stating any reason, Education Secretary Leonor Briones gave us terse letters terminating two agreements: our partnership with them for disaster preparedness and the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC)," Rappler said.

According to the news organization, the programs involved the training of students and teachers in journalism and disaster management, and in creating online platforms for them.

Rappler questioned the DepEd's "rushed" move.

"Why the department would make such a rushed decision that would jeopardize a project that took months of preparation on the part of the NSPC, DepEd, and Rappler merely highlights the unstated reason for DepEd’s action—that they are choosing to sacrifice the ideals of campus journalism to politics," it said.

The news site said that the cancellation came barely a week after "government propagandists" published "malicious reports" about the partnership.

"Apparently acting on those reports, the department’s senior officials held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, February 6, to decide to terminate the DepEd's agreements with Rappler that involve the training of students and teachers in journalism and disaster management, as well as the creation of online platforms for them," Rappler said.

Rappler also said it had "customized" for DepEd an online publishing contest organized by the NSPC, which was set begin in about two weeks after the cancellation.

Rappler said its collaboration with DepEd dated back to 2012, when the media organization provided coverage for the Palarong Pambansa, saying they "volunteered" hands-on training for advisers and students, and built an online platform for them for their stories, photos and videos.

"While this took resources and staff away from other Rappler projects, we pushed through with it every single year, because DepEd and Rappler shared one common goal: to enable young Filipinos to be the best that they can be and to help provide them the skills they need to get there," Rappler said. 

The news organization lamented that students' journalistic ideals were being "sacrificed."

"The stories told by campus journalists we have trained over the years, the moments of triumph and defeat that showcased the best of Filipino sportsmanship in the provinces, the opportunity of young Filipinos working with fellow students and learning from each other, and their exposure to a world beyond their classrooms—that’s what this partnership has been about," Rappler said.

Nevertheless, Rappler said it will continue to work with schools and student groups nationwide.

"We will continue to work with them as they tell their stories, learn new skills, and try to make sense of this tough, new world," the news site said.

DepEd has yet to issue an official statement on its decision as of this posting.

GMA News Online has also reached out to Rappler for comment.

Last month the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked Rappler's certificates of incorporation, claiming that the news site violated the foreign ownership restrictions on mass media companies.

Rappler has denied the charge and called the revocation of its license to operate a form of “political pressure.” It also asked the Court of Appeals to nullify the SEC's decision.

Local and international news outlets, media organizations and rights groups have decried the government's action against Rappler as an attempt to muzzle voices critical of the administration. — BM, GMA News