Administrasyong Marcos, nangako ng ‘safe, secure environment’ para sa media workers

COMMITTED ang administrasyong Marcos na magbigay ng “safe and secure environment”  sa  Philippine press.

Sinabi ni  Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) executive director Paul Gutierrez na ang desisyon ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ay bilang suporta sa patuloy na operasyon ng task force sa ilalim ng kanyang liderato.

Testamento aniya ito dedikasyon ng kasalukuyang administrasyon na panindigan at protektahan ang karapatan ng media workers.

“The decision of President Marcos Jr. to continue with the PTFoMS is the clearest demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the strengthening of our democracy and in sustaining an environment that is generally safe and secure for all members of the press,” ayon kay Gutierrez.

“The corollary aim is to ensure that all transgressors of media rights are made accountable before the law,” anito pa rin.

Ipinalabas ni Gutierrez ang kalatas na ito para pabulaanan ang report ng Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s 2023 na ang media landscape  ng Pilipinas ay nananatiling “largely grim” kahit pa natapos na ang six-year term ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Sinabi rin sa ulat na ang pag-atake sa mga  journalists, kabilang na ang  red-tagging, pagpatay at paggamit ng  “lawfare,” ay nagpapatuloy sa ilalim ng administrasyong Marcos, isang alegasyon na itinatwa at sinabing “false” ni Gutierrez.

Sinabi ni Gutierrez na ang pagdami ng pag-atake ay hindi data-based.

“How can the Philippine media environment be described as ‘grim’ when the perpetrators of even sensational cases are identified and charged in court,” ayon kay Gutierrez sabay binigyang-diin na ang report ng banta at  harassments laban sa media workers ay dapat na “treated with caution.”

“Experience shows that in most cases, the threats and harassments are due to personal reasons involving a reporter and the subject of an adverse commentary or news report. However, some quarters active in the international scene habitually report these incidents as added ‘proof’ of our shrinking democratic space,” dagdag na wika ni Gutierrez.

Base sa monitoring ng  PTFoMS, mayroong 195 na naiulat na  media killings sa pagitan ng 1986 at June 2023.

Tinatayang may 21  kaso  ang naiulat sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong  Corazon Aquino; 11 sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong Fidel Ramos; apat sa ilalim ni dating  Pangulong  Joseph Estrada; 82 sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; 40 sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong  Benigno Aquino III; 34  sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong  Duterte; at tatlo sa ilalim ng administrasyong  Marcos.

Tinuran ni Gutierrez na mayorya ng  57 kaso ang naestablisa  ng mga imbestigador bilang  “not work-related,” habang  28 ng insidente ang kumpirmado bilang  “work-related.”

Binigyang diin pa nito na ang bilang ng mga biktima na lumabas na malaki o  34 journalists  na napatay ay noong  2009 Ampatuan Massacre sa Maguindanao.

Idinagdag pa nito na ang suspek sa 51 killing incidents ay nahatulan na sa korte.

“Let me point out that in the case of the Ampatuan Massacre whose verdict was handed down in December 2019, a total of 45 suspects, including the masterminds, Datu Andal Ampatuan and Zaldy Ampatuan Jr., were convicted by the court,” ayon kay Gutierrez.

“Let us not forget that this verdict is also the single biggest conviction of suspects in the attack against journalists anywhere in the world. As far back then in 2019, the decision already disproved the accusation that our judicial system is not working and therefore needs outside intervention for it to remain credible and functional,” dagdag na pahayag nito.

Sinabi pa ni Gutierrez, umupo bilang PTFoMS head noong Mayo 25, 2023,  na ang lahat ng suspek sa  tatlong naiulat na  media killings sa ilalim ng administrasyong Marcos ay kinilala na at nakasuhan na sa korte.

Tinukoy ang kaso ni  Renato Blanco, isang Negros Oriental broadcaster na sinaksak hanggang sa mamamatay noong Setyembre 18, 2022; radio blocktimer Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa namatay matapos barilin noong Oktubre  3, 2022 sa Las Piñas City; at Cresenciano Bundoquin, radio blocktimer sa Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro  na namatay matapos ding barilin noong Mayo  31, 2023.

Sa kabilang dako, sinabi ni Gutierrez na ang  “red-tagging” ay hindi kailanman naging polisiya ng administrasyong Marcos.

Ang napaulat aniya na  941 bilang ng  cyber libel cases na isinampa laban sa  journalists sa Quezon province nglocal official ay nadismis na ng korte noong Pebrero ng taong kasalukuyan.

“The dismissal should be seen as proof that our judicial system is functioning and that our mechanism for redress of grievances is also working. Nevertheless, I join the campaign to prevent the law on cyber libel and libel from being abused by some quarters of our society against any member of the press,” anito.

“An environment ensuring the life, liberty and security of the members of the press is not only one of the country’s international commitments but also a primary responsibility of the government to its people,” ayon kay Gutierrez.   (Daris Jose)