Dear Blog Viewer,
The following is my article in the May 2018 issue of VIA TIMES. Many of the middle and working class in the Philippines remain supporters of President Duterte. I have read their articles and corresponded indirectly with one supporter, and I respect their opinions. What I find it most difficult to get past, however, is the president's intensifying attack on the Philippine Press. The following sources are credible accusations by people on the spot, and they are very worrisome. Let me know what you think.
Free
Press Under Attack in Philippines
I have had great
admiration for the Philippine Press, particular its investigative journalists,
since my first visit there in 1993. Four
visits later, including a semester as an exchange professor at UP in Manila, I
wrote this assessment in my book, “Sundays in Manila.”
“While the country suffers much, these ills are not
hidden from Filipinos or the rest of the world.
The Philippine Press is one of the most critical and independent presses
anywhere, and it attracts a large audience.
Manila alone has more than five daily English-language newspapers [more
than New York] and twice that number in Filipino and other languages. On the downside the outspokenness of the
journalists has come at a tragic price.
The Philippines has been ranked as one of the most dangerous countries
for journalists.” I wrote that in 2010
The danger to
journalists may have lessened somewhat after the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos in
1985 and Cory Aquino’s becoming president in 1986. The danger level, unfortunately, has
returned. According to the international
media watchdog, RSF (the French initials for Reporters Without Borders), the
Philippines is “Asia’s deadliest country for media,” citing the killing of four
journalists during the past year, 2017.
The on-line newspaper, “Rappler,” is the source for this reference
(rappler.com, Ap. 27, 2018). (The
article does not explain how the four journalists died.) Rappler is currently contesting the
revocation of its license by the Philippine Government’s Securities and
Exchange Committee. Meanwhile a judge
has allowed Rappler to continue to publish, and it is gaining worldwide
attention.
The following thread of articles from the “New York Times,”
two by Filipinos, suggests that, despite his denials, Duterte is responsible
for the current threat to journalists, to a free Philippine Press, and to Philippine
democracy.
“Can Fearless Journalism Survive Rodrigo Duterte?” (NYT,
Aug. 22, 2017) by Clinton Palanca. “The
Philippine Inquirer,” Mr. Palanca notes, “has held every Filipino president to
account since 1985, when it was founded under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.” Palanca then traces how Duterte bullied the “Inquirer.”
The paper maintained its criticism of
the president’s “violent administration” until its owner decided to sell the
paper “after months of harassment.” It
was purchased by a “fast friend” of Duterte’s who “supports his war on drugs.”
“Philippines Shuts Down News Site Critical of Rodrigo
Duterte,” (NYT, Jan. 15, 2018) by Felipe Villarmor. Mr. Villamor, the NYT’s Manila correspondent,
traces the five-month attack on “Rappler,” alluded to above. He quotes the note sent to its readers by “Rappler”
when it received word that it was being investigated for violating the
Constitution that prohibits newspapers from foreign ownership. The note assured readers that it was
confident that the government, working through the Securities and Exchange
Commission, would lose. After all, “The S.E.C.’s kill order revoking Rappler’s
license to operate is the first of its kind in history.” The S.E.C. won, at least so far, Villamor
reports.
“After
Killing Spree, Is a Free Press Mr. Duterte’s Next Victim?” (NYT, Jan. 16,
2018). The Times, to its credit,
followed Villamor’s article almost immediately.
It did not hold its punches: “Ability of a democracy to repair the
damage caused by bad leaders requires the survival of critical democratic
institutions, a free press among them.”
Also to its credit, the NYT published the retort letter from the
Philippine ambassador to the United States (NYT, Jan. 24, 2018) by Jose Manuel
G. Romualdez. Interestingly Mr. Romualdez
bases his defense of the case against “Rappler” almost solely on his respect
Teresita Herbosa, the Chairwoman of the S.E.C.
In
1993, during that first trip to the Philippines, I had the opportunity to hear
a talk by Sheila Coronel, a prominent Philippine investigative journalist at
the time. She made no bones about how
she and other journalists were regularly harassed by the notoriously corrupt
Manila police. For some years now, she
has taught Investigative Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of
Journalism. I never forgot her
extraordinary sense of duty to her profession, despite threats to her
life. I salute her and her fellow
Philippine Investigative Journalists.
