I attended an event at the British Embassy residence last week marking World Press Freedom Day. They had this presentation about how Filipino women journalists are suffering from gender-based harassment in the course of their work.
I am sure that is happening but I am not sure that it is something that overshadows the dangers Filipino journalists, male and female, face these days. Filipino journalists have always operated in a complex environment where legal protections coexist with persistent threats to press freedom.
The Duterte years had been hostile to journalists but it wasn’t as deadly as the martial law years under the first Marcos administration.
Journalists in NCR working for the mainstream media have largely enjoyed legal protection but those elsewhere in the country where local political warlords rule have always lived dangerously.
Our press freedom rankings through the years have reflected the reality that as a whole, Filipino journalists have always been challenged with legal harassment, economic pressures and physical safety concerns. This is a reality that has also limited press freedom because self-censorship has become a necessity for personal survival.
The Philippines recently improved its position in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, rising to 116th place from 134th last year. This marks the country’s highest ranking since 2004.
Our ranking is nothing to be proud of. The Philippines is classified among the most dangerous countries for journalists in the Asia-Pacific region, according to RSF. Since 1986, nearly 200 journalists have been killed, with only 50 convictions secured. Under BBM’s administration, six journalists have been killed, including one in 2024.
To the credit of women journalists like Maria Ressa and my niece, Patricia Evangelista, the harassment and threats did not deter them from doing excellent journalism. Maria went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize and Patricia wrote a best-selling book on the Duterte extrajudicial killings.
Listening to the presentation at the British Embassy, I thought we were missing the more important focus we ought to have to threats to press freedom in general. Governments, even democratic ones, are no longer shy carrying out large scale attacks on media organizations.
In the US, Trump personally made a series of threats and hostile remarks toward mainstream media, which can be viewed as attempts to intimidate or undermine press freedom. Trump has called on the Federal Communications Commission to challenge the broadcast licenses of networks whose coverage he deemed “fake news.”
It was worse in the Philippines. Duterte simply closed ABS-CBN by getting his allies in Congress to deny renewal of its franchise. That effectively silenced an important segment of Philippine media and its award- winning staff of broadcast journalists.
Duterte also tried to close down Rappler, a digital news source led by Maria. Rappler faced all sorts of legal cases, even having its registration revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Maria herself faced multiple legal cases including tax evasion, cyber libel and anti-dummy law charges widely viewed as retaliation for Rappler’s investigative reporting on government policies. While some cases have been dismissed or resulted in acquittals, others remain pending, creating an environment of uncertainty for media practitioners.
Maria and Rappler have also experienced harassment and intimidation, including online attacks and threats, in attempts to silence critical journalism. Maria and Rappler just held the line and took everything as part of their mission as journalists to report the truth on matters of public interest.
Most worrisome these days is the President of the world’s leading democracy constantly using the phrase “enemy of the people” to malign mainstream media (MSM).
A.G. Sulzberger, The New York Times’s publisher has urged Mr. Trump to stop calling the media “enemy of the people.” The publisher has cited growing evidence that autocrats and other world leaders are emboldened by Mr. Trump’s anti-press statements to crack down, sometimes violently, on independent journalists in their own countries.
“In demonizing the free press as the enemy, simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is retreating from a distinctly American principle that previous occupants of the Oval Office fiercely defended regardless of their politics, party affiliation or complaints about how they were covered…”
The right to press freedom emanates from the right to free speech. But good intentions sometimes lead to bad outcomes which The Economist cited last week.
“Speech is being restricted, particularly online, in alarming ways and at an increasingly alarming rate. The number of arrests – more than a thousand a month for online posts – shows this is no longer about a few rogue cases…
“The whole continent criminalizes ‘hate speech,’ which is hard to define… Britain’s police are especially zealous. Officers spend thousands of hours sifting through potentially offensive posts and arrest 30 people a day…
“The aim of hate-speech laws is to promote social harmony. Yet there is scant evidence that they work…
“When the law forbids giving offense, it also creates an incentive for people to claim to be offended, thereby using the police to silence a critic or settle a score with a neighbor… Before long, this hampers public debate. It is hard to have an open, frank exchange about immigration, say, if one side fears that expressing its views will invite a visit from the police.”
There is good news here. In April 2024, a Quezon City court awarded journalist Atom Araullo P2 million in damages after he was red-tagged by former officials.
This ruling emphasizes the judiciary’s role in holding individuals accountable for actions that threaten press freedom.
The Expanded Sotto Law, signed in 2019, extends protection to online and broadcast journalists, shielding them from revealing confidential sources unless mandated by national security concerns.
Still, there is so much to be concerned about threats to press freedom, including those from our country, a democratic government you thought was on your side.
Sigh!
Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco
