Freedom Watch

CMFR blog's new address

2009-07-14T18:03:00.001+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has moved its blog to a new address: http://www.cmfr-phil.org/blog. Visit the new blog for our latest posts.

New fellowship for Asia-based journalists

2008-10-09T15:03:00.002+08:00

Asia-based journalists who have been working for at least five years in any medium (print, radio, television, and online) are invited to apply for a fully-funded fellowship in Singapore.

The newly-established Asia Journalism Fellowship, launched by the Temasek Foundation and the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), will run from February through April 2009.

The press in Singapore is heavily regulated and investigative journalism almost impossible to practice. But the sponsors claim that the fellowship will give 15 journalists the opportunity to “deepen their understanding of the issues they cover” and to familiarize themselves with “the latest trends in media and communication.” It will also be “a venue for the participants to interact with other journalists in the region and build networks for collaboration.”

"They (journalists) are in constant output mode, with precious little time for reflection and personal improvement. It's an occupational hazard,” Dr Cherian George, acting head of the journalism programme at NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School said in a press release. “With the support of Temasek Foundation, NTU is able to offer experienced journalists from the region some quality time to prepare for the next stage of their professional careers."

Details of the program are available here or they may contact Ms Jacquelene Teo at teosl@ntu.edu.sg for other inquiries. Applications are due by 10 November 2008.

2008 AMF Journalism Fellowship application deadline extended

2008-10-08T14:16:00.002+08:00

The deadline for 2008 Asia Media Forum (AMF) Journalism Fellowship applications has been extended to Oct. 30, 2008.

The 2008 AMF Journalism Fellowship, launched in partnership with ActionAid, aims to “promote the concept of research-based journalism” in the region. The fellowship hopes to develop and enhance research ideas and concept related to current socio-political issues in Asia.

The fellowship covers three themes: Bhutanese Refugee, Impunity and Flawed Rule of Law in Democratic States of Southeast Asia, and Inclusive democracy: How Nepal could achieve it?

Practicing Asian journalists in any medium (print, TV, radio, or online) can apply for the journalism fellowship, worth £1,000 (1,762 U.S. dollars).

Below is AMF's press announcement on the fellowship:

2008 AMF Journalism Fellowship

Asia Media Forum (AMF), in partnership with Action Aid aims to provide journalism fellowship of £ 1,000 for the development and enhancement of research ideas and concept related to current socio-political debate among the journalists of Asia Region. The sole objective of this program is to promote the concept of research based journalism in the Asia Region. The Fellowship for 2008 covers following themes:

• Bhutanese Refugee
• Impunity and Flawed Rule of Law in Democratic States of South-east Asia
• Inclusive democracy: How Nepal could achieve it?

AMFC requests proposals from the practicing journalists (print and electronic media) for at least two years. The applicants should be from any Asian Country. Interested candidates with suitable background and experience in the related field can apply and submit the proposal till October 30, 2008. Please note that the story proposal should include copies of i) Work Experience letter ii) CVs of the applicants iii) Letter of reference -2 iv) Letter from Editor giving consent to publish/broadcast the stories, articles, documentary v) A story/article proposal not exceeding 1000 words on the subject he or she is interested vi) Two samples of their published/broadcast work

For Terms of Reference, please visit our website: www.theasiamediaforum.org

Send your applications before October 30, 2008 to :
Asia Media Forum Centre (AMFC)
336, Prashuti Griha Marg
Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal
E-mail : asiamediaforumktm@gmail.com

Terms of Reference for Journalism Fellowship

1. Who may apply?

To ensure a competitive and fair process, the allocation of grants for Journalism Fellowships is application based. Furthermore, the application selection process is made transparent with ample intellectual rigor to ensure that high quality and relevant research is produced, published and broadcast in the organization he or she is working for.

The Forum will accept following types of applications listed below that focuses thematically on topics salient to current socio-economic and political debate of Asia Region. The research theme is listed at the later part of TOR.

1. a. Basic Criteria

Applications are invited from practicing journalists of any Asian Country. He or she should have minimum five years of working experience as journalists in any medium (print, TV, radio or online), either as staff of media organizations or as freelancers. To ensure validity and credibility of the research outcome, the awarding fellowship will be based on sound assessments of scientific quality and its potential contribution to the current policy debate.

For the Journalism Fellowship, important elements of the criteria for selection are as follows:

1. Relevance of issue to be studies in view of the broader topic as given in the call for proposals.
2. A story proposal (in English) based on the given theme by 25 September, 2008. The essay should be no longer than 1000 words, and must altogether introduce the applicant and explain his/her story proposal.
3. Brief resume, with emphasis on current job
4. Two samples of their published/broadcast work (English translations in case of in other languages).
5. Two letters of reference.
6. A letter from the Editor giving consent for publication or telecast of stories as a part of the fellowship and if you are a freelancer, a letter from an Editor of a publication or TV channel willing to publish, telecast your work.
7. Dissemination of the fellowship should be in investigation and research based news stories (5 to 7), articles (2 to 3) format or TV News stories (5 to 7) or a documentary format for electronic media.

2. Themes for Journalism Fellowship

Asia Media Forum Centre (AMFC) has envisaged providing journalism fellowship to the journalist of Asia Region on the indicated themes by announcing call for proposals at least once a year.

Total amount of fellowship: £ 1,000

Time period: 2 -3 weeks

Themes:
The following themes are identified for the study. For generating idea to carry out the research for the applicants, a brief synopsis on the current situation of the identified theme is given below. It is the responsibility of the applicants to create their research proposal under the given theme with consideration of the research findings to the policy implication.

a. Bhutanese Refugee:

Bhutan is the last bastion of hereditary absolute monarchy order with a multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic society. It is passing through a vexing period of internal insecurity, political instability and vulnerability created by current ruling elite. In the name of national integration, the government has implemented various racial and discriminatory policies aimed at forceful homogenization of multi-ethnic society. This 'Drukpanization' or in other words "debhutanization" policy was designed to wipe out the culture, religion and language of Lhotshampas, Sharchhops and other minority ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. Under this policy, all other ethnic and minority groups are required to assimilate their social and cultural identity as distinct ethnic groups with the society dominated by politically and economically dominant Ngalung or Drukpa ethnic group.

Bhutan is responsible for generating one of the highest per capita refugees (one fifth of the total population) in the world. More than 125,000 Bhutanese people, nearly a fifth of the kingdom's total population of approximately 782,548 have been forced to leave or forcibly evicted from the country by the Government. As on March 2001, approximately 98,886 Bhutanese refugees were living in seven UNHRC administered refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Rest live scattered in other parts of Nepal. About 25,000 Bhutanese refugees are living in North Bengal, India without any help.

b. Impunity and flawed rule of law in democratic states of Southeast Asia.

Impunity -- the failure to bring perpetrators of violations to account -- is joined to the failure of States to prevent violations, to protect human rights and to prosecute the suspects and bring them to justice. It is not just a failure of the justice system, but is related in an integral manner to the failure of democratic institutions.

Journalists have become the victims of the pattern in impunity. But the press community is implicated as well in the larger failure of the state to uphold justice and the rule of law when it fails to investigate and to explain the continuing perversion of law by those in power. Both democratic and authoritarian states in Southeast Asia show these weaknesses. This study will help the press in Asia to understand the underlying issues involved in selected countries in the region that exhibit different aspects of impunity.

c. Inclusive Democracy: How Nepal could achieve it?

The concept of inclusive democracy in Nepal came into rise after the failure of Multiparty Democracy system in 1990. The exclusion of low caste group, ethnic groups and janajatis in the state mechanism, decision making and benefit sharing process, social injustice and inequity is the key factor for the birth of Inclusive democracy. The concept of inclusive democracy is based on the equal distributions of powers at all levels and allows active participations of political power of minorities. In context of Nepal, inclusive democracy means sharing of power and authority by all caste/ethnic, gender, linguistic, religious, cultural and regional groups through caste/ethnic, linguistic and regional autonomy and sub-autonomy, proportional representation and special measures under a federal structure of government by using the processes of round table conference, right to self-determination, referendum and constituent assembly. Therefore, for sustainable development of the country, inclusive democracy is the major agenda for creating a good political platform.

Note:
• All applicants will receive a receipt confirming that the application is received and is in process.
• A detail Financial Report with necessary proofs (bills, tickets etc.) should be submitted at the time of completion of research report.

Applications should be sent before October 30, 2008 by mail to :

Asia Media Forum Centre (AMFC)
336, Prashuti Griha Marg
Babarmahal, Kathmandu
Nepal

Or e-mail to
asiamediaforumktm@gmail.com

Burmese journalist freed after 19 years

2008-09-24T14:35:00.004+08:00

After 19 years in prison, a Burmese journalist who was also the longest-serving political prisoner in military-ruled Burma was released last Sept. 23 under the junta’s amnesty program.

U Win Tin, former editor of the newspaper Hanthawathi and vice-president of the Burma Writers Association, was among several detainees who benefited from the amnesty.. The junta will release 9,002 detainees in preparation for the upcoming 2010 elections, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said, quoting the government-owned newspaper New Light of Myanmar.

RSF reported U Win Tin as saying: “I am going to continue practicing politics because I am a political man. I did not sign document 401, which would have forced me to give up that role. Starting today, I am going to continue supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD). I will soon be 80, but I am not going to stop.” U Win Tin is also a founder of the NLD.

International media organization RSF and the Burma Media Association were elated with U Win Tin’s release.

“We worked together to defend U Win Tin’s innocence and we are immensely relieved that he has finally been freed,” RSF and the Burma Media Associatio n said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable that he was made to serve 19 years in prison for peacefully advocating democracy but today his release is an historic moment. We hope other journalists and prisoners of conscience will also be freed and that U Win Tin will be able to resume his peaceful struggle for press freedom and democracy in Burma.”

U Win Tin was imprisoned on July 4, 1989 for several charges including anti-government propaganda, RSF reported. Eight journalists are still in prison in Burma. – RSF/SEAPA

Additional links:

Joy at U Win Tin’s release after 19 years in prison
Burmese journalist U Win Tin released after 19 years in priso n
Regime Frees Longest-serving Political Prisoner, Win Tin
World Association of Newspapers' report on Burma

Update on the Rolando Ureta case hearing

2008-09-19T18:18:00.002+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has created a video report on the Sept. 16 hearing of the murder case filed against the alleged killers of radio broadcaster Rolando Ureta.

2008 AMF Journalism Fellowship is now open

2008-09-17T16:27:00.002+08:00

The Asia Media Forum Center (AMF) Nepal is inviting practicing Asian journalists in any medium (print, TV, radio, or online) to apply for a journalism fellowship of £1,000 (1,762 U.S. dollars).

The 2008 AMF Journalism Fellowship, launched in partnership with ActionAid, aims to “promote the concept of research-based journalism” in the region. The fellowship hopes to develop and enhance research ideas and concept related to current socio-political issues in Asia. The fellowship covers three themes: Bhutanese Refugee, Impunity and Flawed Rule of Law in Democratic States of Southeast Asia, and Inclusive democracy: How Nepal could achieve it?

Applicants should have five years or more working experience and must email the requirements on or before Sep 25, 2008 at asiamediaforumktm@gmail.com.

The exact dates of the fellowship, which will run from two to three weeks, will be announced soon. Read the terms of reference here.

CMFR Statement: Assault on the Public's Right to Know

2008-09-11T12:45:00.004+08:00

Contact: Kathryn Roja G. Raymundo
(02) 894-1326/894-1314
staff@cmfr-phil.org

The Supreme Court’s affirmation of its March 25 decision in favor of executive privilege undermines the public interest function of the press to provide information to a citizenry that has a right to it on matters of public concern. Even more dangerously it also erodes the democratic imperative of transparency in governance.

By expanding the coverage of executive privilege to include communications authored or solicited and received by a presidential advisor, in this case then National Economic and Development Authority Director General Romulo Neri, the Court has legitimized government secrecy to an extent yet to be established by practice.

The Court also affirmed that executive privilege includes information on presidential decisions as well as the materials that were discussed prior to those decisions, thus enabling the president and/or his/her advisers to use executive privilege to conceal information on corruption and other forms of official wrongdoing from the Senate, the press and the public.

The impact on the public’s right to know and on the basic responsibility of the press to provide such information is obvious. But it is equally relevant to the health and future of democracy. If no information can be obtained because of executive privilege, then no information vital to the exercise of the sovereign right of the people in a democracy to decide on policy and other governance issues can be made available.

Oddly in conflict with the impending passage of a bill on public and press access to government information, the decision also strikes at the heart of the imperative for transparency in the affairs of a government in which corruption has so metastasized that it now afflicts it from top to bottom. Vital in the fight against corruption, transparency is the only weapon available to citizens to assure honesty in governance. By in effect providing the legal basis for the de facto reversal of that policy, the court has made that fight even more difficult and problematic.

To meet the challenge posed by the expansion of executive privilege, journalists will have to exert greater efforts to get at the truth of government transactions, policies and actions. As in the dying days of the Marcos regime, the need of the hour is for a journalism firmly committed to the truth- telling necessary in a democracy and vital to a sovereign people’s capacity to hold governments accountable. We call on our colleagues in the press to transcend through practice that’s both vigilant as well as responsible the limits the Supreme Court decision has imposed on the public’s right to information.

The 2008 SONA: Predictable coverage of a ho-hum event

2008-08-13T18:54:00.003+08:00

Media provided the usual reports praising and criticizing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA)--without offering much-needed analyses of the July 28 speech as well as the issues it raised.
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) monitor from July 27 to 30 found that most of the reports in both print and broadcast focused on the response of her allies and detractors to Arroyo’s facts and figures.

The reports lacked the analysis and backgrounding needed to aid people in understanding the implications to the present situation of the public policies she said would continue, among them the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the Value Added Tax (VAT), or the politics behind her decision to support natural family planning.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer noted discordant employment figures from different government offices in its front-page reports “Jeers from foes but a near-perfect score from top ally” (July 29) and “How GMA fared in previous SONAs” (July 28), but did not try to explain the inconsistency.

Neither did any media organization bother to confirm if the likes of Alan Amanse, the former fisherman turned whaleshark watch officer, along with the other human props Arroyo trotted out, were indicative of the country’s present condition.

Red carpet treatment

Much of the SONA coverage of the three major dailies (Inquirer, The Philippine Star, and the Manila Bulletin) and news programs of the two top networks, ABS-CBN 2 (TV Patrol and Bandila) and GMA-7 (24 Oras and Saksi) was limited to an account of the events prior to and after Arroyo’s speech.

The press highlighted the SONA as a red carpet event in which the politicians and their wives’ clothes were given detailed coverage. A particular case was that of the Nagtipunan mayor of the Bugkalot tribe in Central Luzon who wore only a g-string, and whose photo, for that reason, made it to all the papers.

The Bulletin even had a full page photo display of the women politicians who came in ternos—complete with the names of their respective couturiers.

Looking back

To be sure there was an effort to provide a detailed background on Arroyo’s previous SONAs. Abs-cbnnews.com and the Inquirer, for example, listed the themes, key points, promises, and accomplishments by the President from year to year. But the effort came to naught as the flood of figures without explanation did not foster a better understanding of how well or how badly Arroyo had met expectations and fulfilled past promises.

The blogsite of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), meanwhile, provided the few bright spots in a generally ho-hum, coverage through the articles “Hunger, poverty figures the President chose to ignore” and “SONA pickiness with numbers leaves state of economy hazy” last July 28, which challenged the validity of the data in the 2008 SONA Technical Report prepared by the Presidential Management Staff. PCIJ’s “Covering the SONA ritual” article, on the other hand, noted how the press considers Arroyo’s SONA more of a predictable political event rather than an opportunity for her to assess where the country is and to indicate where it’s going.

Abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak also reported in the article “GMA’s SONA stats don’t show complete picture” how Arroyo did not provide the context that would have made the data she presented meaningful.

The SONA coverage was in short as predictable as the event itself.

Fundamentals

2008-08-13T11:52:00.004+08:00

by Luis V. Teodoro

IN THE last three weeks or so, PJR Reports has been accused of various offenses through letters to the PJRR editor as well as repeated text messages, phone calls and e-mails.

PJR/PJRR has admitted its errors and promptly corrected them in the past, but will not concede imagined offences such as its supposedly saying, implying or alleging that the Abu Sayyaf is in peace negotiations with the government.

The PJRR report on the kidnapping of ABS-CBN reporter Cecilia “Ces” Drilon (“When Journalists are News,” PJRR July 2008) has for some obscure reason been accused of that gross error, as well as of citing Ms. Drilon as an authority on the Mindanao problem.

The story was about Ms. Drilon and her kidnapping, and not about Mindanao, in the first place. The story’s lead was emphasizing Ms. Drilon’s attempt to imbue with public value an attempt to further her career by claiming that any interview with the Abu Sayyaf would enhance negotiations with the government. The second sentence in fact asks if government negotiations with the ASG should even be in the government agenda.

The entire lead reads:

“Would it have improved the prospects (underscoring ours) for peace negotiations between the Abu Sayyaf group and the government if ABS-CBN 2’s Cecilia Victoria ‘Ces’ Drilon had obtained and aired that exclusive interview with the bandit group’s new leaders she said she was after? Should peace negotiations between a police problem like the ASG and the government be on the national agenda at all?”

The criticism of PJR/PJRR has lately had a déjà vu quality. During its 18-year history, the Philippine Journalism Review and its successor monitoring publication, PJR Reports, have been accused of (1) not having the credentials to criticize press performance; and (2) of itself not being subject to the monitoring it does on the rest of the press.

The same claims are currently being made, in addition to accusations that PJRR has committed gross factual errors. The first charge was in the past also accompanied by claims that PJR/PJRR staff members, although holders of journalism degrees, are “too young” and “too inexperienced” to be evaluating the performance of “veteran practitioners”.

A public right and a duty

The question on the qualifications of PJRR staff is a fundamental one. Are lack of experience and youth disqualifications from commenting on the press, a public service whose performance has an impact on all of society? On the other hand, do experience and sterling performance in the past exempt “veteran practitioners” from criticism by anyone? Does past performance assure present and future professional excellence and ethical compliance?

To claim the first is to impose limits on criticism of the media and the press—a public service everyone is entitled to monitor and evaluate, in the same way that criticism of the performance of public officials is both a duty as well as a public right. Meanwhile, to exempt veteran practitioners from criticism is to deny that even such worthies do make mistakes. And yet the argument would exempt editors, senior reporters, or even anyone who’s been in journalism for, say, a decade or two, from the evaluation the press deserves and needs.

A prerogative of citizenship

Although run by senior journalists, neither PJR nor PJRR has ever claimed any special qualification for what it does except that of informed citizenship. The right to monitor and evaluate press performance is a public right that brooks no exceptions. It is a prerogative of citizenship. One doesn’t need to be a journalist or a media expert to evaluate press performance, in much the same way that one doesn’t have to be a public official to monitor government policy. To demand that critics of public institutions must have certain credentials first other than citizenship is to undermine the democratic dialogue both in and about the press.

Neither has PJR/PJRR ever regarded itself as exempt from the monitoring it does. Nothing prevents anyone from publishing or airing critiques of its reports, analyses and commentary—to which, of course, PJRR would claim the same right of reply press subjects are entitled to. The PJRR pages and websites are also open to those who’re ready to commit either to paper or cyberspace their criticism, just as PJR/PJRR is ready to respond to them.

PJR Reports has never claimed to be exempt from criticism, and, we repeat, has corrected its errors, as part of the responsibility attached to monitoring the media. The freedom to criticize imposes certain responsibilities on those who would exercise it. PJR Reports is fully aware of those responsibilities, as every critic, whether of the media or of PJRR itself, should be.

Second issue of only refereed journal on journalism released

2008-08-12T15:18:00.006+08:00

THE second issue of the Philippine Journalism Review (PJR), the only refereed journal in Asia devoted to journalism concerns and issues, is now available, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has announced.

Now an annual, the Philippine Journalism Review, or PJR, used to be a press monitoring publication in magazine format. That function has been taken over by the monthly PJR Reports, which CMFR also publishes. The first issue of the reformatted PJR appeared in 2007 and was launched during the awarding ceremonies of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism that year.

The 2008 issue of PJR has a paper by St. Scholastica's College journalism professor Ma. Aurora Lolita L. Lomibao on the beat system ("Revisiting the Beat System"), Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter DJ Yap's "Literary Journalism in the Philippines from the 1950s to the 1980s," and Philippine Social Science Council Technical Services and Information head Joanne B. Agbisit's "Media-Policy Interaction in the Passage of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995."

GMA 7 researcher Ederic Eder also reviewed an online publication ("Global Voices Online"), while University of the Philippines journalism professor Danilo A. Arao interviewed "barefoot journalism" advocate Ben Domingo ("Understanding Barefoot Journalism). A commentary by Johanna Camille Sisante on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's error-correction box ("The Inquirer Box of Errors") completes the 2008 issue contents.

University of the Philippines journalism professor and CMFR Deputy Director Luis V. Teodoro edits PJR, assisted by Prof. Danilo A. Arao, who is its managing editor. The PJR Board of Advisers is composed of academics from the Ateneo de Manila, the University of Santo Tomas, the University of the Philippines, St. Scholastica's College, the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

PJR copies may be ordered from the CMFR (840-0889; 894-1314, 894-1326) and the Office of Research and Publication of the UP College of Mass Communication (981-8500 local 2668).

System failure

2008-07-28T10:45:00.006+08:00

Cheers to GMANews.tv for providing helpful reports on the recent M/V Princess of the Stars tragedy.

Its July 21 report “Marina: Weighed and found wanting” discussed the poor performance of the Marine Industry Authority (Marina), one of the government agencies being investigated for the M/V Princess of the Stars tragedy. The story was based on a 2004 performance audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA).

The 2004 audit showed that although there is an “adequate” policy system, the Marina has failed to monitor the compliance of the shipping companies and partner agencies with existing rules and regulations. For example, some ships have been allowed to sail despite clear violations of shipping guidelines. According to the audit, Marina has also failed to monitor the annual inspection of ships by the Philippine Coast Guard. Several certificates of inspection (CIs) have been issued to ships by the Coast Guard despite deficiencies. In an interview with GMANews.TV, an official of the Coast Guard said they are no longer in charge of issuing CIs.

The story also followed up on the implementation of COA’s recommendations to Marina. The site also provided a sidebar on Marina’s functions and duties.

GMANews.TV also discussed last July 7 the problems in maritime safety system in the Philippines (“Maritime safety not a priority in RP; Coast Guard struggles to stay afloat”). A July 14 report also identified three disaster-prone areas in the country by looking into where the major sea disasters from 1980 to 2008 happened (“Accident-prone-areas-at-sea-identified”).

A dramatic rehash

2008-07-24T13:42:00.002+08:00

JEERS TO “Kidnap”, an ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs documentary aired last July 13, for putting drama above new information on the abduction of the Ces Drilon news team.

“Kidnap” told the story of the abduction of senior correspondent Cecilia Victoria “Ces” Drilon, cameraman Jimmyfred “Jimmy” Encarnacion, and assistant cameraman Angelo “Angel” Valderama from their perspective. Drilon and company shared the details of their nine day-captivity (June 8 to 17) including the difficulties they had while in the jungles of Sulu with their abductors.

Except for the actual video footage and phone conversations with family and negotiators of Drilon, “Kidnap” was a rehash of what the public already saw in the news coverage. Understandably, Drilon and her team became very emotional as they recalled what happened to them but did not tell viewers what they said they have learned from the experience.

Although ABS-CBN 2 provided a warning at the beginning of the documentary that some videos were dramatizations unless labeled “actual footage”, it would have been better if the labels were consistent throughout the show just to avoid the confusion.

In an actual footage shown, there was a man whose face was pixilated. “Kidnap” should have explained why this particular man’s identity was not revealed when those of all the others were.

Obviously missing from the “documentary” was Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo. If ABS-CBN 2 really wants the public to know about the ordeal of those kidnapped, then Dinampo should have been there to tell his side of the story as well. This is just fair to the professor who is now being questioned for his alleged involvement in the abduction.

Neither did “Kidnap” address such important issues as the possible ethical lapses by Drilon, the consequences of the news team’s actions to the kidnap-for-ransom-group Abu Sayyaf (ASG) and the public’s perception of it, whether ransom was paid or not, and who were responsible for the crime — the Isnajis, the ASG, Radullan Sahiron, and/or Jumail “Mameng” Biyaw.

In the end, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs head Maria Ressa explained that Drilon was facing a three-month suspension for disobeying orders and putting herself, her team, and the company in danger. As if to emphasize that what Drilon was getting was a light rap on the knuckles, Ressa said Drilon would not be punished with termination because “she is Ces Drilon,” and praised her for being courageous, fearless, and “a role model for other journalists."

Filipino photojournalist bags scholarship

2008-07-21T10:12:00.004+08:00

Vicente Jaime “VJ” Villafranca, a 26-year-old former photojournalism student at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University, was recently named the 2008 Ian Parry Scholarship awardee.

Villafranca bested works from other countries with his photo documentary of 12 black-and-white images of gang members in Manila’s Baseco compound.

Villafranca, who currently works as a freelance photographer, was a former stringer for the Agence France Press and Associated Press before working full-time for Reuters. He was also a stringer for World Picture News in New York. He has shot commercial photography for local and international magazines.

The Ian Parry Scholarship was created by friends and family of photojournalist Ian Parry, who died at the age of 24 during the Romanian revolution in 1989 while on an assignment for The Sunday Times. Its aim is “to build something positive from such a tragic death”. It is an annual international competition that recognizes the talents of young photographers who are either under 24 years old or are attending a full-time photography course.

The roots of the food crisis

2008-07-16T12:00:00.002+08:00

CHEERS TO GMA-7 for running a public affairs special last July 6 that looked at the continuing problem of food security.

“Kalam” traced the roots of the food security problem to government’s lack of policy on self-sufficiency. Former Department of Agriculture (DA) undersecretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the government should not remain reactive in the face of crises. The report also highlighted the inability of the DA to provide irrigation and farm-to-market roads, and noted the irregularities that have tainted the agency.

“Kalam” also discussed the plight of farmers, which directly affects the stability of the country’s rice supply. Aside from the traditional and outdated farming methods local farmers still employ, the report noted that new technologies, even if readily available, are seldom transmitted to them.

Coverage of ARMM elections marginalized says poll watchdog

2008-07-14T15:28:00.004+08:00

CMFR/Philippines – In one more indication of the media’s tendency not only to neglect positive developments in the region, but also to remain focused on Manila issues, the approaching elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have yet to receive national media attention.

Salic Ibrahim, chair of the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms Inc. (Citizens CARE), told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in an interview last July 4 that conflict in Mindanao was more often reported than the on-going efforts to ensure peaceful and clean elections on Aug. 11.

“Since we began in 2005 (conducting voters’ education programs and election monitoring orientations), none of our efforts have been highlighted by the media,” Ibrahim said after speaking at the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) roundtable discussion on the ARMM elections in Quezon City.

Citizens CARE is composed of 25 ARMM-based non-government, civil society, and sectoral organizations that advocate electoral reforms that will strengthen the credibility of elections in Mindanao. Ibrahim was in Manila seeking accreditation with the Commission on Elections as poll watchdog for the coming elections.

NUJP chair Jose Torres Jr. said he invited Ibrahim to speak for his fellow Mindanaoans who lament the lack of media coverage of the ARMM elections. Torres said Ibrahim could provide insights on the prospects for the automation of elections in ARMM since he has worked closely with election stakeholders specially the voters.

“Many people in Mindanao, especially the communities in the ARMM, have felt that the national media failed to draw attention to their issues,” Torres said during the forum. “Any issues or stories (on Mindanao) that would get aired or published in Manila are often flawed.”

Previous monitors and content analyses by CMFR’s PJR Reports have consistently shown that reports on Mindanao would appear only when the stories are only conflict-related. During the abduction of Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in June last year, PJR Reports noted in its November issue how “news about Mindanao appeared almost daily in the news pages and television news programs” and waned by September.

Ibrahim called for the media’s “wider participation” in election monitoring and in the voters’ education campaign to achieve credible elections in ARMM, which has had the negative perception of being the “cheating capital for elections” due to alleged vote-rigging, particularly in the 2004 elections.

“Electoral reform is everybody’s business including the candidates for public office themselves,” he said in the forum. “Our efforts would be useless (if the residents will not vote).”

Ibrahim said the elections must push through while there are groups who want the government to focus on signing the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He reasoned that the incumbent officials will also lose mandate to occupy their post when their three-year tenure ends this year.

The positions at stake are: Regional Governor; Regional Vice-Governor and 24 seats in the Regional Assemblymen position.

A blow to press freedom

2008-06-30T19:16:00.001+08:00

THE Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility looks at the dismissal by the Makati Regional Trial Court of the class suit it filed with other media organizations and individual journalists as particularly alarming, and agrees with counsel Harry Roque that it could yet be the biggest blow to press freedom to date.

The ruling was issued in the context of a clear policy by a regime hostile to press freedom and the people’s right to information to do all it can, both within and outside the law, as well as to stretch to the limit what is legally allowed, to deny the press its Constitutionally- guaranteed right to cover events of public interest, and, therefore, the public’s right to information on such matters. The arrest of journalists during the Peninsula incident was not only an attack on the press but on democracy itself.

In that incident, the regime stretched the definition of obstruction of justice to include press coverage, and used that excuse to abuse journalists even after the so-called military rebels had been taken into custody. It arrested and handcuffed the journalists and media technicians present without even the courtesy of stating why they were being so treated; and under the pretext of determining who were legitimate journalists and who were not, hauled them off to a police camp for “processing”.

This incident was the worst of its kind in the history of the struggle for press freedom since 1946. It was worse than any attempt by government to restrain the press during the several coup attempts against the Aquino government. The system for control of the press was clear during the Martial Law period, and there was little of this kind of manhandling of journalists at work. There is no such clarity for the protection of the press during this administration.

The license appropriated by this regime, its stretching the meaning of the law to include putting the “right” of the government to arrest those it claims to be obstructing justice above the constitutionally protected freedom of the press had to be stopped, together with its presumption that there’s a right way and a wrong way for the media to respond to crisis.

Deciding whether to stay and to continue to cover a developing story, or to withdraw from the scene is the editorial prerogative of a constitutionally protected press. No regime has the right to dictate that a decision to stay and cover is wrong and can be penalized. These issues, all vital to the capacity of the press to do its mandated duty of providing the public the information it needs, are among those that the class suit sought to resolve in favor of press freedom.

And yet the RTC decision would not only legitimize an illegitimate attempt to subvert press freedom, the Constitution and democracy. It would now embolden and arm the regime with the license to repeat the offense, as it has several times threatened to do. CMFR is prepared to take the fight to reverse this decision and to affirm the primacy of press freedom all the way to the Supreme Court.

Legitimizing bandits

2008-06-26T19:49:00.003+08:00

Would it have improved the prospects for peace negotiations between the bandit group and the government if ABS-CBN’s Ces Drilon had obtained and aired that exclusive interview with the new leaders of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) she said she was after? Should peace negotiations between a police problem like the ASG and the government be on the national agenda at all?

Both questions are crucial to the main ethical issue, unremarked by many commentators, that was at the heart of the Ces Drilon episode. Mostly dismissed as a spent force and no more a terrorist organization than a common kidnap for ransom gang operating in Manila would be, any interview with ASG leaders aired over a major network would have re-conferred on it the status it once had as a supposedly separatist rebel group, thus putting it on the same level as formations with clear political aims like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The capacity to confer legitimacy and status is inherent in the mass media.

The ASG gained notoriety in the late 1990s as a supposedly terrorist organization with its bombing, assassination and kidnap for ransom operations. Eventually, however, its lack of any clear political aim made it clear that it doesn’t even qualify as a terrorist group, the definition of which includes having a political program. It does qualify, however, as a group that uses terrorist methods for non-political aims.

As for its origins, Octavio Dinampo, the Mindanao State University professor who was kidnapped along with Drilon, told the Manila Mainichi Shimbun that the ASG is not linked with Al Qaeda as has been repeatedly claimed, but is a “locally-grown organization” supposed to be known as the Al Harakatul Al Islamiya. “( Al Qaeda) never created this so-called ASG. This ASG is the creation of the Philippine military,” Octavio said.

The group has not had much of a media presence after its leader Khadaffy Janjalani and senior ASG commander Abu Sulaiman were killed in September 2006 and January 2007, respectively. It has receded in the national consciousness primarily because it is correctly perceived as no more than a bandit group that deserves police action rather than peace negotiations.

Was the story on the new leadership of the ASG then worth risking life and limb? Drilon said it herself after they were released by the terrorists that she had gravely endangered the lives of her colleagues. The experience was sobering, she said, and no story is worth any life.

JVOAEJ Winners Announced

2008-06-26T16:39:00.004+08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information on the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), please contact the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility at any of the following numbers: 894-1314/894-1326.

JVOAEJ Winners announced

Newsbreak magazine and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) won the top awards in the 19th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2007. The results were announced during the annual JVOAEJ ceremonies at the Asian Institute of Management on June 26. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been the administrative and technical secretariat of the JVOAEJ since 1990.

The JVOAEJ this year scanned the print media for investigative and explanatory articles published in 2007, and then focused on the urgent issues of human rights, the environment and governance and corruption to encourage reporting on these urgent issues.

This year, “Trapped in a web of lives” by Glenda M. Gloria published in the December 2007-February 2008 issue of Newsbreak and “The battle for Manila’s gateway” by Roel Landingin published in the September-December 2007 issue of Newsbreak, were judged the best human rights and governance reports, respectively. Each received a plaque of distinction and a cash prize of P70,000.

The board of judges named the environment story “What’s swinming in your soup?” by Prime Sarmiento of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and published in Malaya newspaper on November 27-28, 2007 recipient of a plaque of merit and a cash prize of P25,000.

The Canadian Embassy announced that the Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada, will go to Glenda M. Gloria. This is the 12th year that the Canadian Embassy has awarded the Marshall McLuhan Prize in the JVOAEJ.

The Australian Embassy named Roel Landingin as the recipient of the Australian Ambassador’s Award, a travel grant to Australia. It was the sixth time that the Australian Embassy presented the Australian Ambassador’s Award in the JVOAEJ.

The first JVOAEJ was launched in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration. A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy.

The JVOAEJ this year was sponsored by the Open Society Foundation Media Program and the Ateneo de Manila University.

The finalists in this year’s JVOAEJ awards were:

Palace document shows gov’t plan to neutralize Left
Norman Bordadora and Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 16-17, 2007

The road to Italy
Gemma Luz Corotan
Newsbreak
September-December 2007

Inside PCGG 21 years later
Fernando del Mundo, Margaux C. Ortiz, Jerry Esplanada and Daxim L. Lucas with reports from TJ Burgonio and Lawrence de Guzman
Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 22-25, 2007

Environmentalists to govt: Manage garbage, don’t promote landfills, dumps
Nora O. Gamolo
The Manila Times
October 28-29, October 31-November 1, 2007

Garci was here
Miriam Grace A. Go
Newsbreak
July-September 2007

Bridging the digital gap
Allison Lopez, Riza Olchondra, Juliet Labog-Javellana with reports from
Julie S. Alipala
Chief: Fernando del Mundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 27-29, 2007

Malansang balak ng Hapon sa Pilipinas
Soliman A. Santos and Kenneth Roland A. Guda
Pinoy Weekly
October 17-23, 2007

All the finalists received a plaque and a cash prize of P10,000.

Impunity in the Philippines

2008-04-30T12:08:00.000+08:00

By Joel Simon and Sheila Coronel, Committee to Protect Journalists

At a recent conference on press freedom and impunity held in Manila, attorney Nena Santos declared, "My heart bleeds for justice for a friend and children of all the victims."

That friend was Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a crusading investigative reporter from Mindanao whose cold-blooded murder in March 2005 made her a press freedom martyr in the Philippines and around the world. Attorney Santos achieved a breakthrough in the Philippines when she helped convict the gunmen who carried out the killing. She now has her sights set on the masterminds.

The Esperat case has been justly hailed a milestone in the fight against impunity. What is shocking, however, is that such convictions are so rare. There are 24 other murders carried out since 2000 in the Philippines in which no one has been brought to justice.

This dubious record helped earn the Philippines a top ranking in the Impunity Index devised by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as a measure for assessing the safety and protection of journalists worldwide. CPJ released the findings of the index today [WEDNESDAY] at the United Nations in New York. In fact, the only countries in the world that have a worse record of bringing journalists to justice have endured years of violent conflict – Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Colombia.

This nearly perfect record of impunity in the Philippines has had a devastating impact on the free flow of information and has inhibited coverage of human rights and corruption issues in the communities affected by violence.

Now, a campaign being waged by the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists and supported by CPJ seeks to address this terrible record. Using documentation, advocacy, and public awareness we hope to shine a light on this appalling record and help push the government to action.

Indeed, the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has taken an important step by creating a new division with the National Police called Task Force USIG which is charged with investigating the killings of journalists and activists. President Arroyo has also spoken out publicly and condemned the violence against the press.

These measures, however, do not suffice. They have not stopped the killings nor have they led to the conviction of journalist's murderers.

The Arroyo government cannot rely on heroic lawyers like Nena Santos. Instead, it must take direct responsibility for solving these crimes. There is only one way for the Philippines to reduce its ranking on the CPJ's Impunity Index, and that is by bringing the killers to justice. CPJ will be updating this list in 2009. We will be looking for results.

Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists; Sheila Coronel is a member of CPJ's board of directors and the director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting at Columbia University in New York

Legal experts, journalists, press freedom and human rights advocates attend international conference on press freedom and impunity in Manila

2008-03-09T16:21:00.002+08:00

Just three months after scores of journalists and media practitioners were arrested after covering the Manila Peninsula siege, over a hundred legal experts, judges, journalists, press freedom and human rights advocates from all over the world along with some local government officials gathered at the same site, this time to address a problem that has besieged the Philippines: journalist killings.

The "Impunity and Press Freedom" conference, held on Feb. 27 to 29, was organized by the Southeast Asian Press and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility with support from the Open Society Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Click here for copies of available speeches and presentations as well as the conference program and photos of the event.

GMANews.TV's precious sidebars

2008-02-23T21:44:00.000+08:00

Cheers to Gmanews.tv for providing background accounts of the series of alleged anomalies involving presidential spouse Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo and election chair Benjamin Abalos. Both reports served as sidebars to articles written on the controversial national broadband network (NBN) project that implicated both Arroyo and Abalos. (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/79636/Controversies-linked-to-Jose-Miguel-Mike-Arroyo and http://www.gmanews.tv/story/79804/Controversies-involving-Benjamin-Abalos).

An incomplete report from 24 Oras

2008-01-23T01:36:00.001+08:00

Jeers to 24 Oras for an incomplete report about a recent Metro Manila Development Agency (MMDA) plan to weed out colorum buses and improve the city's heavy traffic congestion.

Last Jan. 22, 24 Oras reported that MMDA has started installing microchips to track buses plying Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and other major thoroughfares. The report however did not provide enough details about the microchip installment and the Organized Bus Route (OBR) scheme. (The installment of microchips is part of the larger OBR measure.) How MMDA crafted this policy and the effectiveness of microchips in weeding out colorum buses were not explained in the report.

Telling the real story behind the "success"

2008-01-23T01:23:00.000+08:00

Cheers to ABC-5’s Sentro for painting a clearer picture of the state of the government’s pet store project to alleviate hunger and poverty.

Government officials hailed the success of barangay food terminals that sell affordable food and medicine (known as “Tindahan ni Gloria”) after a Social Weather Stations survey (November 30 – December 3, 2007) showed that hunger incidence in the country had dropped to 16.2 percent from 21.5 percent last September.

Sentro reported last January 4 that several of the government's “Tindahan ni Gloria” stores , on the contrary, have closed or are in danger of folding up. In a visit to some of the poor areas around Metro Manila where food terminals are most needed, Sentro found that some of stores that have remained open are short in food supplies, including rice and noodles.

To be fair, the report aired the side of assistant agriculture secretary Salvador Salacup and National Food Authority spokesperson Rex Estoperez who both insisted that the terminals have been helpful in alleviating hunger and poverty.

The report would have been better though if it explained the cause behind the decrease of hunger incidence according to the survey. It could have also included exact figures on the number of closed food terminals in the country since the project began.

Adrian Cristobal passes away

2007-12-23T11:22:00.000+08:00

Veteran journalist Adrian Cristobal Sr. passed away yesterday. He was 75. May he rest in peace.

Adrian E. Cristobal, public man of letters; 75
Source: Inquirer.net

Adrian E. Cristobal Sr., political satirist, essayist, columnist, fictionist, playwright, literary organizer, popular historian of Andres Bonifacio, and Marcos government functionary and adviser, died of complications arising from lung cancer Saturday morning. He was 75.

"Adrian Cristobal was first and foremost a political writer who started writing short stories but developed into a fine essayist in the tradition of Fred Mangahas, Salvador P. Lopez, and perhaps E. Aguilar Cruz," said writer Elmer Ordoñez who, like Cristobal, was a member of the original Raven group of writers based in the University of the Philippines.

"A quite cynical person, possibly acquired in the practice of journalism (as reporter, columnist, editorial writer, and publisher) and writing for public figures, he was in his element in the satirical mode," added Ordoñez, who’s national secretary of the Philippine Center of the International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists).

Read here for more.

Rich countries must pay! Poor people must have a say -- Action Aid

2007-12-13T16:25:00.000+08:00

Here's a news release from Action Aid, an international anti-poverty institution, that might be useful for the coverage of issues tackled right now at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali.

Rich Countries Line up Against the Poor on Climate Change Adaptation Funding

Rich countries lined up at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali against the poor, pushing for Adaptation Funding to be under the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), while many of the negotiators from the most vulnerable developing countries resisted the mechanism. The primary criticism of the GEF has been the lengthy and complex rules and procedures that hinder access to the funds.

“Poor people are forgotten and entirely marginalised from the debate at the conference. We are watching! We demand an independent governing body for the Adaptation Fund. We insist that this fund be entirely separate from the GEF, as many representatives of the most vulnerable countries have lost faith in the ability of the GEF as an adaptation funding mechanism” said Ilana Solomon, ActionAid spokesperson on adaptation funding in Bali on Friday. Despite the criticisms of the most vulnerable countries, the GEF has continued a hard lobby for management of the fund.

During discussion in a contact group on technology transfer the rich countries also tried to stall the debate and undermine the poor counties on adaptation needs in terms of advocating for their right to technology transfer. The rich countries refused to accept the developing countries’ stance that both the Adaptation Fund mechanism and technology transfer need to be reviewed under the ambit of the Subsidiary Body Implementation (SBI). They claimed that these are not implementation issues. “Technology transfer is a crucial building block for both mitigation and adaptation in developing countries”, said Solomon.

Actionaid, an international anti poverty agency that is closely monitoring the negotiation process, has warned that the rich countries should not stall the COP13 negotiation process thus damaging the interests of the poor.

Actionaid demands that the Adaptation Fund and technology transfer meets the needs of those who need it most.

ActionAid says it is unfair to hound the poor countries to accept GEF as the proper forum for Adaptation Funding through intense pressure.

Notes for Editors

The G 77 speaking on behalf of the developing countries and China called for review of the financial mechanism and expressed deep concern over the huge difference between the funding available and the funding required under the financial mechanisms of the convention. The G77 said unless this gap is bridged, the objectives of the convention cannot be met. However, the United States, Japan and the European Union and their allies have been blocking this review by stating that the review should be done without considering whether or not GEF is an appropriate institution to implement the financial mechanisms of the convention. The G77, especially the LDCs, in a statement said under GEF, even the inadequate funds would be difficult to access due to complicated procedures and bureaucratic hurdles.

The G77 including China in a statement have clearly stated that there are several barriers to tech transfer – the major ones being IPR and finances. They are also stating clearly that tech transfer must be facilitated within a specified framework that is time bound and can be monitored for effective implementation. However, on the other hand rich countries including USA, Japan and EU are stalling discussion by repeatedly stating that this discussion should be taking place within the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advise stream of the Convention, which does not deal with implementation issues, otherwise dealt under SBI. The rich countries are also saying that these issues be taken up under the review of the Kyoto Protocol’s article 9, that is yet to begin.

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. ActionAid works is working with communities to help them reduce disaster risk through climate change adaptation and is part of the Climate Change Action Network (CAN). www.actionaid.org

Contacts

Ilana Solomon, Spokesperson on Adaptation Fund mechanism
+62-81-353006039, Email: ilana.solomon@actionaid.org

Shafqat Munir, Media person in Bali
+62-81-338918096 and +92-300-5003959 Email: shafmunir@gmail.com

Colm O’Cuanachain, Team leader in Bali:
+62-81-338918094 and +353868354189 Emails: colm.ocuanchain@actionaid.org

An Unprecedented Outrage

2007-11-29T19:56:00.001+08:00

Statement of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility on the Arrest of Members of the Media Covering the Peninsula Hotel Incident

Never in the turbulent recent history of the Philippines has any government, including that of Ferdinand Marcos, ever taken into custody members of the media who were on the scene to do their jobs.

But the arrest of the media people who were covering the take-over of the Peninsula Hotel by Senator Antonio Trillanes’ Magdalo group is not only unprecedented. It is also an outrage, and a telling indication of the authoritarian depths into which the Arroyo regime has fallen in its obsession with political dominance. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility condemns this latest attack on the Philippine press as an assault not only on its Constitutionally-protected freedom, but also on democracy itself.

The arrests took place when the crisis was over, and Trillanes and company were already in police custody. The arrests can only be interpreted as one more attempt, together with libel suits and other harassments, to intimidate the Philippine press into either minimal or less aggressive reporting of political events. Media practitioners will remember this incident well, and some are likely to be affected enough to soften future coverage.

The Defense Secretary’s excuse that the police had to verify the identities of the media people covering the Peninsula Hotel crisis because there could be Magdalo members and sympathizers among them is totally unacceptable. Their identities were verifiable on-site, with some them being TV anchors well-known to millions of television viewers.

That members of the media, among them technical personnel and camerapersons as well as radio broadcasters and TV anchors, were being arrested at the very moment that Mrs. Arroyo was on the air describing her commitment to democracy was especially ironic. But it was also typical of the Arroyo regime’s rhetorical and contrived adherence to democracy and the rule of law.

The regime’s continuing assault on press freedom, free expression and freedom of assembly, of which this incident is only the latest, deserves condemnation. CMFR calls on all media, free expression and journalists’ groups in this country as well as abroad to denounce this atrocity as a willful act to inflict collateral damage on the Philippine press for doing its mandated responsibility of providing the sovereign public the information it needs.

Journalists and media organizations condemn the arrest of journalists

2007-11-29T19:30:00.000+08:00

Maria Ressa, head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, condemned the arrests of not only members of the ABS-CBN 2 technical team but also other journalists and media practitioners covering the Makati incident.

"We in ABS CBN News strongly condemn the illegal arrests of our ABS CBN reporters and our colleagues in the media and decry the atrocious treatment we are being subjected to in the hands of the police. Our reporters were in the Manila Peninsula purely to fulfill their duties as journalists," she said.

"We see no reason why our reporters have had to be handcuffed and detained along with (Antonio) Trillianes's group and remind the government that their actions are a grave and serious threat to Press Freedom and to the public's right to the Truth," she added.

Click here for the story containing her statement. Earlier, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines issued a statement on the issue.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is issuing a statement anytime soon.

A cheap report on cheap toys

2007-11-22T00:08:00.000+08:00

TV Patrol World did a disservice to its viewers last night (Nov. 21) when it failed to provide answers to larger questions with its report on China-made cheap toys.

According to the story from TV Patrol World's resident comic-reporter, cheap toys made from China are now flooding the market in time for the Christmas season. The program showed the abundance and cheap cost of these toys in a mall in the metropolis.

The bigger question however was: With recent reports about the alleged high lead content in toys made from China, how safe are the toys?

The report however did not explore this safety angle much. Except for a quote from a mall representative who merely said the mall "screens" the toys coming in, nothing in the report did tackle this critical issue against China-made toys. The report did not even ask the mall representative to explain the quality of its "screening" process of toys.

And what is the response of the local toy business sector on the issue? Or the process by which these China-made toys come to the Philippines and flood the market?

Interestingly, it was the same program that the PJR Reports commended in its issue last month for explaining the dangers of high lead content in toys. "The Sept. 6 news report (of TV Patrol) said high lead content in the paint used on toys could cause mental and kidney disorders and affect other parts of the nervous system as well," PJR Reports noted in its Oct. 2007 issue. "If accidentally swallowed, toys with high lead content paint could result in mental retardation among children."

Nograles, the press freedom advocate?

2007-11-19T23:14:00.000+08:00

A staunch Arroyo ally at the House of Representatives has filed a bill proposing for the abolition of the penalty of imprisonment for libel but increasing the fines for the offense.

According to Rep. Prospero Nograles (Lakas, 1st Dist., Davao City), author of House Bill 2802 , the proposed measure "aims to encourage the media to be more vigilant and active in their crusade against graft and corruption."

Here is a news release on Nograles's bill from the website of House of Representatives:

No more jail for libel
Source: House of Representatives
Nov. 19, 2007

A lawmaker has proposed the abolition of the penalty of imprisonment in libel case but instead increase the penalty of fine.

House Bill 2802 authored by Rep. Prospero Nograles (Lakas, 1st Dist., Davao City) increases, however, the fine for libel from P200 to P 6,000 to P20,000 to P50,000, amending Republic Act 3815 otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.

In filing the bill, Nograles said the imposition of a higher but reasonable set of fines is enough to make the media practitioners more cautious in their exposes but still keeping with the Constitutional protection of the individual's freedom of speech.

According to Nograles, media had been a powerful tool in the deterrence of all forms of abuses, graft and corruption and other irregularities in both private and public sector but the penalty of imprisonment in libel cases discourages most media men in their exposes against abusive officials.

Read here for more.

Here is the Inquirer.net account:

Bill scrapping jail but hiking fines for libel filed
By Maila Ager
Nov. 19, 2007

MANILA, Philippines -- A bill that does away with imprisonment for libel but increasing the fines for the offense has been filed at the House of Representatives.

Davao City Representative Prospero Nograles said he filed House Bill 202 to encourage media to be more vigilant and active in their crusade against graft and corruption.

While media has been a powerful tool in the deterrence of all forms of abuses, graft and corruption and other irregularities in both the private and public sector, Nograles said the penalty of imprisonment in libel cases discourages many from exposing abusive officials.

Read here for more.

Interestingly, while his bill proposes to do away with imprisonment for libel, Nograles sued a Davao-based journalist for libel, resulting in the imprisonment of the journalist last February.

PJR Reports reporter Jose Bimbo F. Santos wrote about the issue in the April 2007 issue of the magazine. Among the court cases involving journalists, the case of jailed radio broadcaster Alex Adonis is probably "among the most disturbing because of the circumstances and the eventual outcome," wrote Santos. Santos is also the press alerts officer of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Loses libel case filed by congressman
Broadcaster Lands in Jail
by Jose Bimbo F. Santos

Murphy's Law is at work in the case of radio commentator Alex Adonis. Penniless and abandoned by his lawyer and employer, the former Bombo Radyo broadcaster is now languishing in jail for libel.

Adonis was convicted of libel for reporting that Davao Rep. Prospero Nograles (1st district) ran naked in a hotel in Manila after the woman’s husband allegedly caught them in bed in July 2001. The story was broadcast by Bombo Radyo in General Santos City.

The Manila-based tabloid Abante Tonite picked up the reported incident, which became known as the “Burlesk King” scandal.

Nograles denied the incident. Aside from Adonis, he also sued Dan Vicente, Bombo Radyo station manager, and Abante Tonite for libel.

Read here for more.

Guidebook for media monitoring out

2007-11-17T16:11:00.000+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), which has been monitoring election coverage since 1992, recently published a manual on monitoring media coverage of elections in the Philippine setting.

Read more here.

FFFJ supports the Global Day of Action and condemns media restrictions in Pakistan

2007-11-15T16:08:00.000+08:00

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), a coalition of six media organizations formed in 2003 to address the numerous attacks against journalists and news organizations in the Philippines, supports the Global Day of Action today, November 15, protesting the media crackdown in Pakistan.

FFFJ is deeply concerned over the draconian clampdown on free expression under the state of national emergency declared by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last November 3. Since then, crippling legal restrictions, imposed through amendments of Pakistani law, have been put in place. The restrictions have severely impaired Pakistan media’s function to report the truth and to hold the government accountable.

The amendments have also provided government excessive powers, among them to suspend news publications for up to thirty days, confiscate media equipment, and impose stiff fines on violators of the new regulations, all of which have created a hostile environment for the practice of free expression. Aside from the imposition of these unacceptable restrictions, under emergency rule the government has also suspended a number of local and international news channels and blocked local and international news websites.

Local and international journalists covering street protests denouncing the declaration of the state of emergency have also been harassed, attacked, and detained. Three reporters from the U.K.-based publication The Daily Telegraph have also been expelled from Pakistan because of an “offensive” editorial from the newspaper about the political crisis.

FFFJ believes that the recent turn of events has corroded Pakistan’s democratic institutions, directly affecting the practice of free expression. FFFJ calls for the immediate withdrawal of amendments in Pakistani law, which has resulted in severe restrictions on media practice in the country, and the restoration of democratic rule. FFFJ believes that free and independent media is of paramount importance to the development of society.

The FFFJ members are the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Philippine Press Institute, the Center for Community Journalism and Development, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines), and the California-based newspaper The Philippine News. FFFJ provides financial assistance to the families of slain journalists, as well as legal support in the prosecution of their cases.

(Released by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, which serves as the FFFJ Secretariat.)

Tomorrow is Global Day of Action against media attacks in Pakistan

2007-11-14T16:46:00.000+08:00

In support of the Nov. 15 Global Day of Action against media attacks and threats in Pakistan, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is posting the statement below from the Asia Media Forum (AMF).

CMFR condemns the attacks against media organizations and journalists in Pakistan. The organization is supporting the appeal to all journalists in Asia to observe the Nov. 15 Global Day of Action.

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), a local coalition of media organizations formed in 2003 to address the spate of attacks and journalist killings, will also release a statement in support of the Global Day of Action.

Asia Media Forum calls to observe Global Day of Action against media curbs in Pakistan on November 15

Media in Pakistan is under threats and attacks both by militants and the military-led state authorities with continued crackdown against journalists and media houses resulting in crippling of news and current affairs programmes, loss of media freedom and arrest of and injuries to journalists.

In the growing violence, militancy and conflict since January 2007, six media professional have been killed in Pakistan, five have disappeared or have been abducted, and many others have been assaulted or threatened. AMF is deeply concerned over this state of affairs and renewed threats by militants to media houses and journalists.

Asia Media Forum (AMF) Pakistan Chapter condemns the brutal actions against media and has appealed to all journalists in Asia to observe a Global Day of Action on November 15 to protest the media crackdown in Pakistan in front of Pakistan’s embassies in their respective countries as called by the International Federation of Journalists, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and other organizations dedicated to press freedom.

“Emergency rule is aimed at attacking vibrant and free media and independent judiciary. It is silencing the voices of the unheard which in a control regime can never emerge,” said Mr Mushtaque Minhas, President Islamabad Press Club and a Core Group member of Asia Media Forum Pakistan.

Mushtaque called for immediate withdrawal of the two ordinances that bar media from reporting freely and fairly and force cable operators to shut down some of independent television channels from the cable net. “When media is gagged who would raise the voices of the people”, he said urging the government to immediately lift ban on media, particularly electronic media and release the journalists arrested during the crackdown.

Under these two ordinances the government has literally crippled media freedom and has banned some of the popular current affairs programmes on private television channels. The widely watched “Bolta Pakistan’ (Pakistan Calling) on AAJ television anchored by both Mushtaq Mihas and Nusrat Javeed (a senior anchor/analyst and a Core Group member of Asia Media Forum) is among key television shows the government has banned.

“It is not the emergency alone that impede the capability of journalists to report, the growing conflict between the militants in North of the country and the military is also adding to harm to journalists,” said Khalid Jamil, a reporter of the same TV channel and a Core Group member of Asia Media Forum who was injured during a cross fire between the militants and the military in Swat weeks ago.

Asia Media Forum also condemns the police raids on television and radio stations and blocking of the TV channels’ transmission and expresses solidarity with fellow journalists in Pakistan in their resistance to actions against media. Rejecting ban on the private TV channels and only allowing the state run PTV to show one sided picture, AMF calls for immediate withdrawal of derogatory and anti-democracy restrictions on media. AMF urged civil society, lawyers and journalists to join hand to stop new media laws crippling the media freedom.

The AMF also warns against efforts to impose a code of conduct by the government to gag the media which the media houses and journalists organization have already rejected. All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) assailed the coercive measures aimed at gagging the media. AMF Pakistan chapter and other journalists’ bodies have pledged to resist ban on their freedom which they have achieved after a long struggle.

Mind the facts, please

2007-11-12T18:27:00.000+08:00

Jeers to gmanews.tv for carrying an item by an international press organization without verifying its facts.

On Oct. 26, gmanews.tv published a report about the statement of the Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists condemning the Oct. 25 slay attempt on two Digos-based block time radio broadcasters.

“The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) voiced shock over the shooting of Marlan Malnegro and Ruben Oliverio, who had just finished their morning program when they were shot,” gmanews.tv reported.

Malnegro and Oliverio, block timers of dxDS Radyo Ukay, have both finished their programs and were on their way home onboard their motorcycles when an assassin riding in tandem with another individual on a motorcycle fired at them.

The gmanews.tv report carried the statement of IFJ-Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park saying that the “fresh attack reflects the worsening situation for journalists in the Philippines” It, however, did not bother to double check the accuracy of the facts carried by the IFJ statement, as some of these proved to be inaccurate.

“She (Park) also noted three journalists have been killed so far this year in the Philippines, the latest of whom was newspaper and radio reporter Arnel Manalo,” gmanews.tv reported.

“Manalo was shot dead in Batangas last July 31,” gmanews.tv added.

Manalo, however, was killed on Aug. 5, 2004.

“Earlier this year, controversial political radio commentator Rogelio Mariano was killed after completing a broadcast over Radyo Natin,” gmanews.tv also quoted the IFJ report.

However, there is no broadcaster who goes by the name of Rogelio Mariano, and who was killed “earlier this year.”

There is only a Roger Mariano, who was killed on July 31, 2004.

For a complete list of the names, dates, and organizations of Filipino journalists/media practitioners who were killed in the line of duty since 1986, please visit the database of the Center for Media Freedom Responsibility.

Times report leaves readers hanging

2007-10-28T16:37:00.000+08:00

Jeers. An Oct. 1 Manila Times report left readers with more questions.

The Times reported that acting justice secretary Agnes Devanadera sacked staff members of justice secretary Raul Gonzalez, and revoked the latter’s order of assignment to several prosecutors and personnel assigned at the Bureau of Immigration. “The twin moves of De¬vanadera are seen to weed out the so-called mafia entrenched at the (Department of Justice (DOJ),” the Times reported. (“Acting Justice chief weeds out ‘mafia’”)

According to a memorandum Devandera reportedly issued, the revamp was “part of the...need to keep the OSEC (Office of the Secretary) staff lean, and in the interest of the service.” Citing an unnamed source, the Times said that the acting secretary wants to “weed out the so-called mafia at the Justice” who allegedly abused Gonzalez’s trust and confidence and led him to sign “erroneous documents”.

Among the affected officials, the Times reported, are Ismael Datu Imam (ordered to return to the Bureau of Immigration), Solomon Solidum (of the National Prosecution Office), and Richard Lisen (of the Board of Claims).

None of these officials were interviewed to confirm or deny what Times reported.

And a bigger question left unanswered by the paper was: What “erroneous documents”? The paper did not cite any example of the said documents. If indeed there were documents Gonzalez erroneously signed or approved, the public deserves the right to know them. The Times should have pursued this angle.

Urgent Press Advisory

2007-10-24T17:08:00.000+08:00

From: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Subject: Hearing on the class action suit filed by members of the Philippine press
Date: 25 October 3007 (8:30 a.m.)
Place: Makati Regional Trial Court, Branch 143, 13th floor

---

Following is a CMFR report on the recent developments in the case.

Court temporarily stops class suit against president's husband

The class action suit filed by 40 journalists and three media organizations against presidential spouse Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo for his alleged abuse of right and violation of press freedom, had not even reached the pre-trial stage a year after it was filed. Both sides had been locked in an argument over legal technicalities.

But in a decision dated 24 September 2007, the Court of Appeals (CA) granted Mr. Arroyo's petition asking for a preliminary injunction on the hearing of the affirmative defenses, thus putting the case on hold.

The class action suit was filed against Mr. Arroyo on 28 December 2006 in response to the numerous libel suits – 11 against 46 journalists – he had been filing against media practitioners since 2003. Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.

"(P)etitioner's application for a writ of preliminary injunction is granted.… enjoining respondents, their agents and anybody acting in their behalf from continuing with the preliminary hearing on the affirmative defenses based on the amended complaint," the decision, signed by CA Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta stated.

The decision also said it would be injurious to Mr. Arroyo if the hearing on the affirmative defense will be continued.

"Based on the pleadings submitted, the possibility of irreparable injury to petitioner (Mr. Arroyo) has been shown, at least tentatively or provisionally, to justify the restraint on the subject hearing on the affirmative defenses based on the amended complaint. Said preliminary hearing or its continuance will unduly expose petitioner to the rigors of trial in the case below even before the jurisdictional issues raised in the present petition are resolved," the decision stated.

Harry Roque, the lawyer of the journalists in the case, however expressed befuddlement over the decision since it was actually Mr. Arroyo who requested presiding judge Zenaida Laguilles of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) for a hearing on the affirmative defenses.

On 6 February 2007, Roque filed an opposition to the RTC to Mr. Arroyo's motion to set the case for preliminary hearing on affirmative defenses. Mr. Arroyo's two points in his affirmative defense state that the RTC has no jurisdiction over the case because the plaintiffs did not pay the correct amount of docket fees, and that the plaintiffs have no cause of action because not all of the complainants were libeled by Mr. Arroyo.

Ruy Rondain, Mr. Arroyo's lawyer, argued that the plaintiffs were not able to post the docket fee of P9 million each. The complainants are asking for P12.5 ($276, 600) in damages, but Rondain noted that the word "each" is written in the final complaint, indicating that each complainant, 36 individual journalists and three media organizations, sought to be given P12.5 each, with total charges amounting to P487.5 million ($10.78 million). There were 36 individual journalists in the complaint filed on 28 December 2006, but four more joined the suit, which was then added in the complaint's amended version. The media organizations include the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), which has been calling for the decriminalization of libel since 1990

Roque had filed a motion to amend the complaint on 6 February 2007 asking the word "each" to be replaced instead with "aggregate" so as "to make the words of the Complaint conform squarely with the intention of the Plaintiffs to claim damages for the Philippine press as a unified institution."

Rondain, however, in his reply filed on 2 March 2007, stated that it is "difficult to believe that plaintiffs, all seasoned journalists who claimed they read the complaint before verifying it, would also miss that suppose 'typo'" Rondain also stated that "the bottom line is that plaintiffs intended to mislead to save on docket fees."

Laguilles, however, on an order dated 16 March 2007, granted Roque's motion to amend the complaint and Rondain's motion to set the case for hearing on the affirmative defenses.

Roque said he is considering whether to just comply with the CA decision, or file a motion for clarification.

The class suit is the first of its kind in the Philippines and hopes to prevent other government officials from harassing journalists and eroding press freedom through the whimsical use of the Philippine libel law.

Free Burma!

2007-10-04T10:14:00.000+08:00

PRESS ADVISORY

2007-10-02T15:09:00.001+08:00

FOR: News and current affairs head/editor

FROM: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility/ Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists

SUBJECT: Hearing on the murder against SPO4 Apolonio Medrano and Basilio Yadao for the 2004 killing of Ilocos broadcast journalist Roger Mariano

DATES: 3, 10 and 18 October 2007 (8:30 a.m.)

PLACE: Manila Regional Trial Court, Branch 54, 5th floor

* Note: The Roger Mariano case is one of the two cases of slain journalists being heard here in Manila, the other one being the Philip Agustin case, also being heard in the Manila RTC, branch 6. The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) has been supporting the legal costs in the Mariano and the Agustin case.

Mirror stories

2007-09-25T12:57:00.000+08:00

Malaya must have run out of stories last Sept. 11 when it published two similar stories on its front page that day.

Both reports discussed the public’s possible reaction to the then upcoming Sandiganbayan decision on the plunder and perjury cases against detained President Joseph Estrada.

The only difference between the reports “Exercise tolerance, police told” and “Reaction to guilty verdict is Erap’s worry” was that the latter was longer by eight paragraphs. But the whole text of the first report was contained in the second.

Both came out next to each other on the lower fold of the paper.

More threats and attacks vs journalists

2007-09-22T13:20:00.000+08:00

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines raises alarm over reports on the military ban against Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Julie Alipala from covering news events in Mindanao, particularly in the province of Basilan.

The ban was ordered following reports that The Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc has received death threats for his exposé on the controversial $330-million contract for the government’s national broadband network project with China’s ZTE Corp.

Click here for more.

A case of trial by publicity?

2007-09-05T15:27:00.000+08:00

The death of University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG) senior student Cris Anthony Mendez has been the talk of the town for the last two weeks. Mendez, a 20-year-old councilor of the local college student council, died on his way to the hospital last August 27 after sustaining bruises all over his body.

Last August 30, the report “Biktima ng Hazing?” in 24 Oras seemed to insinuate that the UP-based Sigma Rho Fraternity and its members have something to do with Mendez’s death. Mendez allegedly applied for membership in the fraternity, some reports said.

24 Oras reported that UP students Miguel Francisco Cruz and Ariel Paolo Ante, who are said to be Sigma Rho members, have not been attending classes since the Mendez incident broke out. Ante is the chairperson of the UP NCPAG student council and was reportedly the last person seen with Mendez alive. Cruz’s father reportedly was one of the people who took Mendez to the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Hospital.

The report did not explain how the absences of these students relate to the Mendez case. It also gave the student number of Cruz, a private identification of UP students.

Without giving the proper context why Sigma Rho is being connected to the case, the viewers could easily be led to think that Cruz and Ante are guilty. There is no corroborating data to prove this or otherwise since the case is still under the investigation of the UP administration and the police.

As of this time, Ante and Cruz are not considered suspects. However, investigators are inviting them to come out and shed light on the case.

Sigma Rho has yet to give a statement regarding the involvement of the fraternity to the death of Mendez. Officials of the fraternity in UP Diliman, Quezon City, face a 30-day suspension from the university to ensure an impartial investigation.

Malu Fernandez resumes writing

2007-09-03T14:11:00.000+08:00

As anticipated last week, controversial lifestyle writer Malu Fernandez has resumed writing for the Manila Standard Today in today's issue. Her "reappearance" in the said broadsheet was already announced by Manila Standard Today in its Aug. 27 issue (which Freedom Watch posted here). The management of the paper apparently did not accept Fernandez's resignation, and thus, the resumption of her column. This was confirmed here in Annalyn Jusay's post and in the Aug. 30 episode of Media in Focus.

Inquirer.net also has a report on this.

Unseen evil on your dressing table
By Malu Fernandez
Source: Manila Standard Today, Sept. 3 issue

There are two kinds of people who react to bacteria and germs, some are from the germaphobes—or the people who are obsessed about cleanliness —others are just plain filthy. We have all seen those programs on one of the lifestyle channels (such as Clean House and the other one, whose title escapes me, is about the two British ladies who come in and show you how much bacteria you have in an unclean house). But many women I know who keep a decent clean home or are obsessive about cleanliness often forget about cleaning their makeup tables and medicine cabinets. There is a lot of unseen evil lurking on your dressing table and medicine cabinet. And by evil I mean bacteria and germs!

Read more here.

And now for the important news: Zubiri's butt

2007-09-01T19:00:00.000+08:00

The Philippine Star reported Sen. Anna Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal's compliment on Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri's buttocks in its Aug. 14 front page.

The Star did not explain why Madrigal's compliment on a fellow senator's butt was so important that it deserved a front-page treatment. The report, however, also provided background information that Madrigal was not always well-mannered, having uttered the word "ass" before in expressing her frustrations against her colleagues who readily cooperate with Senate President Manuel Villar.

But the Star's fascination with this topic did not end there. It published another report on the subject the next day, with Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile asking why his posterior was not being complimented and Sen. Miriam Santiago's surprise with Madrigal's action.

Stop press repression in Bangladesh -- AMF

2007-08-30T20:39:00.000+08:00

Let's take a rest from the Malu Fernandez controversy shall we?

Asia Media Forum expresses solidarity with Bangladesh Journalists

The Asia Media Forum (AMF) expresses grave concerns over the reported harassments, assaults and intimidation of journalists and gagging of the media in Bangladesh and denounces the repression of the journalists.

The AMF also expresses solidarity with journalists' community in Bangladesh, and strongly demands that the journalists be allowed to discharge their professional responsibilities without any hindrance.

The AMF notes with grave concerns that the law enforcing agencies resorted to assaults of the journalists, both print and electronic, while they were covering the students protesting against the highhandedness of the army personnel and demanding lifting of Emergency that suspended fundamental rights of the citizens.

The AMF also notes that despite repeated government assurances of press freedom, the law enforcers resorted to detention, assaults, intimidation and humiliation of the media people particularly since imposition of curfew on Tuesday. Over the last few days, dozens of journalists and photo-journalists were detained, scores of others beaten up, several dozens of media workers intimidated.

The AMF also expresses concerns over the government's overt (officially intimidating two private TV channels – Ekushey and CSB and covert attempts (telephonic instructions to the media executives by the government agencies) to gag the press.

Under theses circumstances, the AMF urges the government of Bangladesh to immediately stop repression of the journalists and gagging of the media, and thus ensure the people's inalienable right to remain informed about whatever developments, political and otherwise, takes place in the society and state.

This statement has been issued by Kavi Chongkittavorn, Yubraj Ghimire and Milind Kokje, Core Group members of Asia Media Forum.

For more details contact : asiamediaforum@gmail.com, milindkokje@hotmail.com, Kavi@nationgroup.com, yubaraj@hotmail.com

Asia Media Forum (AMF) is a network of media practitioners from different parts of Asia, committed to issues of media freedom, human rights, social justice and democracy. It is an alliance of, by and for media professionals, who feel the need to build a platform for interaction, shared learning and interregional cooperation to promote ethical, substantive and inclusive media in the region. The members of the AMF stand for human dignity, human rights, gender equity, social justice, equitable economic progress and a participatory and democratic polity.

Malu's back?

2007-08-28T15:38:00.000+08:00

Remember the much-ballyhooed (and supposed) apology of Malu Fernandez and her resignation from Manila Standard Today and People Asia:

Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW Controversy

"I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs....

"I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest."

Read more here.

But what's this? Taken from August 27 issue of the Manila Standard Today, page C1. It shows Fernandez's photo at the bottom of the page with the note: "Divalicious will resume next Monday."

Thanks to Smoke for the tip.

Why did People Asia decide to publish Malu Fernandez's story anyway?

2007-08-28T00:00:00.000+08:00

University of the Philippines journalism department chair Rachel Khan raised an important question in the still raging Malu Fernandez controversy: Why did the People Asia editors let Malu Fernandez's article "From Boracay to Greece!" pass through?

While the blogosphere is full of castigating remarks against Fernandez, Khan wrote in her blog last August 25, "(N)o one seems to realize that the editors who decided to publish that piece of trash are equally--if not even more culpable--of insensitivity and bigotry against the hard working Filipino overseas workers. Who made the editorial decision to publish the article in the first place??!!!"

Read Khan's full post here. Khan also works with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility as Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) coordinator.

A number of bloggers posted their reactions to Khan's post, including Schumey07 who wrote in his blog The Philippine Experience that: "It was not just Malu Fernandez who should suffer from this fiasco. Its the editors' failure which led to this. The ball is now in the owners' court. If they fail to act on this quickly, closing down could be their only option."

Read the full post here.

TV Patrol World's Malu Fernandez report lacked corroboration

2007-08-23T19:54:00.000+08:00

Jeers to TV Patrol World's for a sloppy report on Malu Fernandez's alleged apology. The report, which aired a few minutes earlier, solely relied only on this page. It did not bother to check the side of Fernandez or even the papers where she write for (Manila Standard Today and People Asia). Or if it did, TV Patrol did not say so. If the program was not able to get the side of Fernandez or the two papers (or they tried but failed to get them), then the report should have immediately noted that the site where the columnist's statement was posted had not been verified that it indeed was Fernandez's.

The end to the Malu Fernandez issue?

2007-08-23T19:21:00.000+08:00

Within the next few minutes, TV Patrol World is going to air a report about controversial Manila Standard Today columnist Malu Fernandez. Initially, the program already said that Fernandez is apologizing amid public outrage over an article she wrote for People Asia. But a few minutes later, it stopped focusing on the angle that Fernandez is going to apologize. Instead, it is now angled at the indignation by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on Fernandez's article.

A few hours earlier, an alleged statement of Fernandez apologizing to what happened was already circulating online. "I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs," Fernandez allegedly wrote here,
adding that she already submitted her resignation letters to both the Manila Standard Today and People Asia. The statement, however, has not yet been verified whether it really came from Fernandez.

The confusing Tribune

2007-08-22T19:18:00.000+08:00

Jeers to The Daily Tribune for confused reportage. The paper reported last July 25 (“AFP, MILF urged to keep mum on Basilan conflict”) that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been in war with the government for the past 25 years. The Tribune, however, reported the previous day that the secessionist group’s battle with the government has been 29 years long (“MILF warns of escalated war; troops wait for assault signal”).

A breakaway group from the Moro National Liberation Front led by Hashim Salamat, MILF was formed on Dec. 26, 1977 – or 29 years ago. (“The Media and Peace Reporting: Perspectives on Media and Peace Reportage,” Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, 2000)

Wrong backgrounding

2007-08-22T18:57:00.000+08:00

(Biased reporting? Inaccurate report by a newspaper? Sensationalized TV or online coverage? Outstanding background report on an issue? Starting today, Freedom Watch will regularly carry media monitors by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.)

Jeers to The Manila Times for not getting its facts straight in its July 26 story “Motive suspected to be ‘personal’: Station manager survives slay try.”

The report was about the recent attack against Ferdinand Yngson, station manager of GMA-7 Network’s Super Radyo dySB based in Bacolod City. Yngson was shot by a local government official in Negros Occidental last July 25 but survived.

The article claimed that Yngson’s case “is the first attack on a media man after several years,” then added that the Philippines was only second to Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists, according to international media watchdogs Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute.

The attack on Yngson, however, comes from a long line of attacks against and killings of journalists since 1986, which worsened during the Arroyo administration.

This year alone, there have been five journalists murdered, one of whom was likely killed for his work as a journalist. Most known among the several attacks against journalists this year is the April 19 shooting of Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Delfin Mallari Jr. in Lucena City, Quezon.

There have been at least 20 reported cases of work-related attacks against journalists this year, including death threats, legal charges, arrest, imprisonment, and physical assault. Last year, six media practitioners were killed in the line of duty, according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Malalad's counterattack justified

2007-08-22T18:29:00.000+08:00

ABS-CBN 2 reporter Gretchen Malalad's retaliatory attack against former basketball player Bong Alvarez who had elbowed and grabbed her by the hair yesterday was justified, according to Luis V. Teodoro, deputy director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Here's an Inquirer.net report on yesterday's incident:

TV reporter, cabbie file assault raps vs ex-cager
Source: Inquirer.net

Former basketball player Paul “Bong” Alvarez found himself in the middle of a different ball game after he was slapped with charges of physical injuries by two people who accused him of attacking them in Mandaluyong City yesterday. Police said he also tried to resist arrest.

One of his victims, however, ABS-CBN television reporter Gretchen Malalad, managed to punch Alvarez in the face after he allegedly elbowed her and grabbed her by the hair when she tried to interview him.

Read more here.

"(Malalad's counterattack against Alvarez) was understandable and logical," Teodoro told ABS-CBN 2's flagship news program TV Patrol World yesterday. "It has a bearing on the exercise of press freedom."

Here are some reports of the TV Patrol World on the incident:

CMFR Monitor of News Media Coverage of the 2007 National Elections: Improvement noted in media coverage of 2007 elections

2007-08-17T15:09:00.000+08:00

There was widespread awareness of the professional and ethical responsibilities of the press among the major media players. TV networks ABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7 and the leading Manila broadsheets seemed very much aware of the importance of their role in the 2007 elections.

The leading media organizations in both print and television also prepared their staffs for the coverage through seminars and briefings, in which the ethics of reporting the elections was emphasized.

These were among the conclusions of the study on media coverage of the 2007 elections conducted by the non-governmental Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). The results of the study were released today during a roundtable discussion at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati.

The CMFR study covered the period February 13 to May 13, as well as election day itself. A team composed of CMFR staff, volunteer journalism students from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Mass Communication, and student interns from Far Eastern University, St. Scholastica’s College, UP, and University of Santo Tomas monitored six TV news programs, the three leading Manila broadsheets, selected AM radio stations and Manila tabloids, TV public affairs programs, and online news sites. Political ads in all Manila TV stations as well as the state of preparedness of the media were also studied.

The study found that the major TV networks were pro-active in providing viewers information
they needed. This was a departure from 2004, when the media were criticized for surrendering their agenda setting function by merely reacting to the statements of the candidates and political parties.

In addition to their regular public affairs programs, for example, ABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7 offered special programs on the elections. In print, the Philippine Daily Inquirer offered articles on election issues, what the candidates stood for, and even information for voters and poll watchers. It also covered lesser known parties like Ang Kapatiran, rather than concentrating only on the administration and opposition parties.

The usual emphasis on personalities and controversies persisted in the rest of the media, however. In 2007 as in 2004, the party-list elections were covered only when party list groups like Bayan Muna and their leaders were involved in controversies. There was a minimum of reporting on what the various party list groups, including those supposedly supported by the government, stood for.

The study also suggests that the government-run TV system needs reforming, and urged the implementation of the government’s privatization policy in the case of the sequestered stations. The study found the coverage of the government TV system conspicuously biased for administration candidates.

Contact person:
Hector Bryant L. Macale
(63 2) 894-1326/894-1314/840-0903/840-0889 (telefax)
staff@cmfr-phil.org
www.cmfr-phil.org
www.cmfr-phil.blogspot.com

Inquirer, Star, Newsbreak and Philippine Graphic grab top JVOAEJ prizes

2007-06-28T17:44:00.000+08:00

For more information on the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), please contact the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility at any of the following numbers: 894-1314/894-1326.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Newsbreak, and Philippine Graphic won the top awards in the 18th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2006 during ceremonies held at the AIM Conference Center Manila on June 28. Since 1990, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been the administrative and technical secretariat of the JVOAEJ.

The first JVOAEJ was launched in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration. A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy.

As in the previous year, reports published by daily newspapers were judged separately from those published by non-dailies. There were thus two sets of first, second, and third prizes for the investigative and explanatory categories.

The first prize winners in the daily and non-daily division of the investigative and the explanatory category each received a cash prize of P70,000 and a plaque.

The first prize in the daily division of the investigative category went to “Untangling the RSBS mess” by Fe Zamora of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which was published on November 13-16, 2006. It was Zamora’s second straight win in the same division and category. Her article, co-written with Gerry Lirio, “Tracing the trail of the tape,” received the top prize last year.

In the non-daily division of the same category, the first prize went to “Leyte sea roils from rape of WW2 ships” by Inday Espina-Varona with Yvette Lee and Christine Mangulabnan, which was published in the Philippine Graphic on October 23 and 30, 2006. It was the first time that both Varona and the Graphic won the top prize in the said division and category.

CMFR in consultation with the Canadian Embassy announced that the Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada, will go to Varona. This is the 11th year that the Canadian Embassy has given out the Marshall McLuhan Prize in the JVOAEJ.

In the daily division of the explanatory category, The Philippine Star took the first prize for its report “RP detergent industry struggles to stay afloat” written by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes, and published on November 8-9, 2006 (the first for both the Star and Reyes), while Newsbreak took the top prize in the non-daily division with “Seeing red” by Carmela Fonbuena, which was published on July 3, 2006. It was the first such award for Fonbuena.

CMFR in consultation with the Australian Embassy has decided that the Australian Ambassador’s Award, a travel grant to Australia, will go to The Philippine Star’s Reyes. This is the fifth time that the Australian Embassy is awarding the Australian Ambassador’s Award in the JVOAEJ.

“Citrus farmers restive over mining project” by Melvin Gascon published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 15, 2006 won second prize in the daily division of the investigative category, while “Making money from making peace” by Aries Rufo published in Newsbreak on July 31, 2006 won second prize in the same category of the non-daily division.

They each received a cash prize of P40,000 and a plaque.

There was no third prize in the daily division of the investigative category. In the non-daily division, the third prize went to “The Romualdezes and Equitable Bank” by Lala Rimando with research by Evelyn Katigbak, which was published in Newsbreak on June 3, July 3, 17 and 31, 2006.

Rimando received a cash prize of P20,000 and a plaque.

In the explanatory category, “Guimaras oil spill” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer i-Team (Fernando del Mundo-Chief, Leila B. Salaverria and Tina Arceo-Dumlao with Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Carla P. Gomez, Margaux C. Ortiz, Tetch Torres and Nestor P. Burgos Jr.) won second prize in the daily division. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report “Preparing for disaster” by Vinia M. Datinguinoo, which was published in the March-April & May-June 2006 i Report, won second prize in the non-daily division.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer i-Team and Datinguinoo each received a cash prize of P40,000 and a plaque.

The third prize winners in the explanatory category were the Philippine Daily Inquirer report “Doing good in bad times” by Daxim L. Lucas and Clarissa S. Batino, published on January 8-11, 2006 (daily division), and the PCIJ report “Incentives for the rich harm the poor” by Roel Landingin published in The Philippine Star, BusinessMirror, Malaya, Manila Standard Today and Sun.Star Cebu on August 14-15, 2006 (non-daily division).

The third prize winners in both divisions received a cash prize of P20,000 and a plaque.

This year, the JVOAEJ was sponsored by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway, The Asia Foundation with support from the United States Agency for International Development and the Ateneo de Manila University.

The finalists of the 18th JVOAEJ are:

Investigative Category

Daily Division

CSC reels from GMA prerogative to appoint execs
Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 27-29, 2006

Appointments raise questions in land row
Felipe Salvosa II with Maria Eloisa I. Calderon
BusinessWorld
February 7-8, 2006

Non-Daily Division

Boys Town wards cry sexual, physical abuse
Tess Bacalla
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in The Philippine Star, The Manila Times, Malaya
and Sun.Star Cebu on June 12-13, 2006

Explanatory Category

Daily Division

Change oil
Dave Llorito
BusinessMirror
April 27, 2006

Traffic: Time to count the costs
Paolo Joseph L. Lising with Iris Cecilia C. Gonzales and Kristine L. Alave
BusinessWorld
April 10-12, 2006

History is not teacher’s pet
Jonathan M. Hicap
The Manila Times
September 17-18, 2006

Non-Daily Division

New Rx needed for generics movement
Alecks P. Pabico
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in Malaya on September 27-28, 2006

Tempest in a (feeding) bottle
Vinia M. Datinguinoo
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in Malaya on September 6-7, 2006

Divorce by religion
Aries Rufo
Newsbreak
August 20, 2006

Sounds like the Philippines?

2007-06-06T08:43:00.000+08:00

The Philippines is not the only country in the world where killings of journalists remain rampant, resulting in a culture of "intolerable impunity," and intimidation of the press coming no less than from the government.

Journalists from all over the world condemned the continued killings of Russian journalists and the Russian government's intimidation of the Russian Union of Journalists last June 2.

World journalists condemn ‘intolerable impunity’ and vow to show global solidarity in fight to defend Russian journalists
Source: Davao Today

MOSCOW — Journalists from all over the world today expressed outrage and condemnation over killings of their Russian colleagues and the dark shadow of government intimidation cast over the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ).

“There is a process of intimidation in Russia that is unacceptable,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “We must say loudly and clearly that we stand with our Russian colleagues and when we go home we must still stand shoulder to shoulder with the Russian Union of Journalists.”

Delegates at the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) World Congress vowed to fight attempts to evict the Russian Union from their premises, which was announced on the day the gathering of 500 international journalists started in Moscow for their World Congress.

Impunity in the killing of journalists and the intense pressure the government has put on the media, on unions and on individual journalists must be fought by unions, not just in Russia but all over the world, said the IFJ.

Read more here.

CMFR Philippines Alert: Reporters receives death threat after exposing election anomalies

2007-05-30T02:51:00.000+08:00

A television and a radio reporter for the ABS-CBN network received death threats in Lanao del Norte, a province located in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), after reporting election irregularities in the province. ARMM is in Mindanao, the second largest and southernmost island of the Philippines.

ABS-CBN television news program TV Patrol World reported on 28 May 2007 the threats received by reporters Ricky Carandang and Noel Alamar, which came after they reported election anomalies in Lanao. Carandang is a television reporter/anchor while Alamar reports for DZMM, the flagship AM station of the ABS-CBN broadcasting corporation.

ABS-CBN news and current affairs head Maria Ressa released a statement on the 29 May 2007 episode of TV Patrol World condemning the incident.

“ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs condemns in the strongest possible terms, these attempts to intimidate the members of our newsgathering team. We would like to warn those involved that their identities are known to us,” Ressa said.

Ressa also added that they are “prepared to take legal action should these threats continue or should any harm come to Mr. Carandang, Mr. Alamar, or any member of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs.”

According to Carandang, his guides in the province have received calls from people inquiring about his whereabouts. Armed men, whom Carandang suspects are members of private armies, are also roaming the province looking for him.

The threats came after Carandang reported in TV Patrol World that officials of the provincial treasurer’s office in the provincial capitol of Lanao del Sur had complained that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had illegally carted away blank election returns (ER).

Carandang’s ABS-CBN crew caught footage of the blank ERs being carted away by Comelec employees led by Renault “Boy” Macarambon, vice-chair of the Lanao del Sur board of canvassers in the 2004 elections who was mentioned in the “Hello Garci” recordings as then elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano’s alleged pointman in the region.

The "Hello, Garci" tapes were a series of wiretapped conversations believed to be between President Arroyo and Garcillano discussing the rigging of the elections. Lanao was believed to be the center of massive election rigging in the 2004 elections.

In a segment of the recording, a voice believed to be that of President Gloria Arroyo asked if she will still lead by a million votes, to which a voice believed to be that of Garcillano replied in Filipino, “His (referring to the late Fernando Poe Jr. who was Arroyo’s rival in the 2004 elections) count is high, but that will be compensated for in Lanao.”

On the issue of the verification and distribution of official ballots and ERs, section 189 of the Philippines’ Omnibus Election Code gives the provincial and municipal treasurer the responsibility to “verify the contents of the boxes containing the shipment of official ballots, election returns and sample official ballots received by the said treasurers. The provincial treasurers shall keep a record of their receipt and distribution to each municipal treasurer, while the city and municipal treasurer shall each keep a record of their distribution to the board of election inspectors.”

Carandang’s team afterward found the ERs being stored in the Maria Cristina Hotel in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, an hour away from the provincial capitol in Lanao del Sur.

In his report, Carandang asked Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento why ERs were being stored in the hotel, which Sarmiento denied, although Sarmiento’s signature was affixed to the pullout order of ERs from the provincial capitol. Carandang afterwards showed the footage he had caught in his cellular phone showing stacks of blank ERs being delivered to the hotel. Sarmiento smiled and said that he would willingly resign should any election irregularity happen.

“Absolutely,” Carandang said when asked if the threats he received had a relation to his report. Carandang also said that his station has received news that a certain official’s vote-shaving, vote-padding operation had been bungled due to the report. Carandang left Lanao on 29 May 2007, while Sarmiento resigned on 28 May 2007 as head of the Task Force Maguindanao, citing health reasons for his resignation. Task Force Maguindanao was formed to investigate allegations of vote-rigging in Maguindanao where the administration scored a 12-0 sweep of the senatorial elections. Lanao del Sur is part of the Maguindanao region.

A statement from journalists who have filed a class suit against the president’s husband, Mike Arroyo

2007-05-28T12:04:00.000+08:00

In view of Jose Miguel Arroyo’s announcement that he intends to withdraw all the libel suits he has brought against journalists (46 in all), the question is raised whether we might respond by withdrawing our own class suit against him.

As it happens, this is not a case of such humanitarian challenge as the question seems to suggest. Mr. Arroyo, no doubt, deserves every sympathy after his heart surgery but, however serious his condition may be, it does not excuse him from misrepresenting his place in the way he has done: his is not to dispense generosity (his own word) to the journalists, but to ask them for it.

Apparently, Mr. Arroyo has had a dubious epiphany. Instead of realizing, as might have been the case in a true chastening, that he has filed whimsical, malicious, wholesale suits, and apologizing, he presents himself as in fact the one wronged and offers yet to forgive.

That is adding insult to injury, and it serves only to strengthen our intention to proceed with our suit for damages in behalf of our profession.

In the history of Philippine media, it is Mr. Arroyo who has filed the most number of libel cases versus journalists.

Let us remember that he is out to erode the watchdog function of the press. That is anathema in a democracy.

We’re trying to build the press as an institution that will function vigorously as part of the checks and balances in our system. As it is, we already operate in difficult conditions, where vested interests dominate some media organizations and the culture of impunity casts its dark shadow on us.

Today, we face a new battleground—in the courts.

Senate and Party-list News takes a Backseat

2007-05-22T19:42:00.000+08:00

Media coverage of the Senate and party-list elections waned less than a month before the May 14 elections as other issues competed for media's attention.

The fourth report of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) monitor of media coverage of the 2007 elections said the decline in the number of reports in the television news programs monitored occurred as the number of television ads from wealthier candidates like Team Unity's Prospero Pichay Jr. began to overwhelm the two leading TV networks.

From March 31 to April 20, media coverage of the senatorial and party-list election reports declined in the three leading Manila newspapers and the six TV news programs CMFR monitored. The low number of reports was partly due to the attention the newspapers and TV news programs paid to other issues that competed with the elections.

Visit the CMFR website here for more information.

Commission on Election bans election quick counts

2007-05-22T18:35:00.000+08:00

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), the government body responsible for running elections in the Philippines, ordered a stop on 16 May 2007 to the ‘media counts’ being conducted by the TV networks GMA-7 and ABS-CBN on the grounds that they were “unauthorized” and “confuse our people.”

“The stations should not do it (sic) because it confuses our people. It shows trending and we do not allow trending because they might be reporting from places favorable to their candidates of choice,” Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos said at a press conference.

“They (networks) are violating the law. They are not supposed to consolidate results unless they reveal the source, precinct, where it came from. (They have) to stop it because they are not accredited to do the quick count. They are confusing the people. They are not supposed to report the unofficial tally,” Abalos added.

GMA-7, in partnership with computer school AMA, and ABS-CBN , in partnership with Systems Technology Institute (STI), another computer school, did quick counts in the initial stages of the canvassing of votes.

“We will impose sanctions (if they don’t follow), but I don’t think they will disregard our instructions… They can be cited for contempt,” Abalos said.

But ABS-CBN director for corporate communications Ramon Osorio said that ABS-CBN had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with STI and Comelec to conduct the media count.

“We have always been very careful in pointing out that what we’re doing is a media count, not a quick count. The NAMFREL does its quick count using the sixth copy of the official election returns. Our media count simply reports the counting as it goes on in real time at designated precincts,” Osorio said.

The National Movement for Free Elections is the government-accredited election watchdog in the Philippines

“What we reported on were merely the initial tallies. The updates on the counting were broadcast only during the first 24 hours. I think that’s too short a time to make any sort of trending,” Osorio said.

Malacañang Palace, where president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo holds office, has also protested the quick counts, which placed the opposition bets in an early lead over their administration rivals.

“There is something mesmerizing about figures and numbers being flashed on the screen. It has a hypnotic effect. No matter how you explain the process, no matter how much you qualify the limitations of the operations, mind-controlling still happens,” Gabriel Claudio, Arroyo’s chief political adviser, said in an Inquirer.net report.

Team Unity (TU) spokesman Tonypet Albano also appealed to all networks “not to trend” through counting of votes from Metro Manila and Luzon, known bailiwicks of the opposition. TU is the administration ticket.

Albano said they are warning the public “not to be fooled by the unofficial and marginal results.”

“Why not count Visayas and Mindanao (votes) with (the) same percentage so as to allay fears of cheating when our… candidates suddenly surge- Albano

Genuine Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano, however said that the Comelec ban was an “unconstitutional infringement on press freedom and the public's right to information.”

“The counts are a matter of public interest and cannot be prohibited on mere suspicion by the Comelec that the count will be used for trending,” he said.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had earlier said that surveys are banned two weeks before the elections under the Fair Elections Act. Gonzalez said the opposition could use the surveys “to question the results of the (elections)” should it lose.

"Definitely there is trending because if the results are different, they will again march in the streets and will be supported by the Left to create trouble. Instead of a unified nation, we will again have a trouble because of the surveys," Gonzalez said.

Reacting to Goinzalez’s statement, the survey group Social Weather Stations (SWS) said that the justice secretary, a lawyer, “betrays his gross incompetence and ignorance of the law.”

“The provision in the Fair Elections Act (R.A. 9006) that would have banned surveys was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2001, and never had a chance to be applied to any election. The Supreme Court decision was in SWS v. Comelec, GR. 147571, 5 May 2001,” SWS said.

“The SWS and the entire community of survey researchers deserve an apology from the Secretary of Justice for making such a grossly incompetent statement,” SWS added.

Court bars airing of public affairs program story

2007-05-22T18:30:00.000+08:00

A local public affairs was barred from airing a story on 12 May 2007 by a temporary restraining order (TRO). A representative from Lanao del Norte’s second district secured the TRO, preventing GMA Network Inc.’s Imbestigador (Investigator) program from airing a segment that reported on the almost six-decade reign of the congressman’s clan in the province.

Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo said in his petition that the program would only bring about “irreparable damage” to his “good name,” claiming that the show did not even attempt to get his side. He said that a circulating mobile phone message saying that the story would focus on his “corruption and greediness” (sic) prompted him to file the petition.

Dated May 11, the 72-hour TRO reached GMA Network when Imbestigador’s staff was in the last stages of editing the program for airing. Judge Jacob Malik of Branch 21 of the Regional Trial Court in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte, said in his decision that Dimaporo “will suffer grave injustice and irreparable injury” in case the report is aired.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines labeled the restriction “as a clear case of prior restraint” and said in a statement: “We do not dispute the Dimaporo family's right to seek redress if they feel the episode is unfair to them. But we assert that any redress they seek should be after the fact and should not involve [preventing] the airing of an episode that very clearly touches on an issue of public interest.”

Angel Directo, Imbestigador’s associate producer, asserted that Imbestigador had tried to secure an interview with Dimaporo. She said the congressman initially agreed to an interview, but was later not available. She added that the program had sent a researcher and a cameraman to Lanao del Norte on May 11, but were still unable to obtain an interview.

The network was said to have been “under intense pressure” the previous week from the Dimaporos and their go-betweens to kill the story, via “letters, phone calls, and personal visits.”

Lawyer Jose Ibarra of the GMA 7 legal department said that the report’s showing should not have been blocked, noting that a story on the Dimaporos as a political family is “not a private aspect of their lives, but a public fact.”

Theodore Te, a human rights lawyer said that GMA 7 could have opted to still air the Dimaporos story in spite of the TRO, citing the Constitutional provision on press freedom if charged with contempt of court. He also said that the network could have also appealed to the Supreme Court for an immediate restraining order on the TRO.

GMA’s legal department is still awaiting another hearing to settle the case, since the initial summons to determine if the TRO would go beyond 72 hours was set too soon, on May 13.

Rep. Dimaporo’s father, Mohammad Ali, started his political career as Lanao del Norte’s governor, and later served in Congress. The petitioner, Rep. Dimaporo, is running for a third term in Congress, while his wife, Gov. Imelda Dimaporo, is a congressional candidate for the province’s first district. Their son Khalid is running to replace his mother as governor.

On Public Affairs Programs’ Coverage of the Senate Coverage and Party-list Elections and Political Advertising in Print and Broadcasting

2007-05-12T15:54:00.000+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has an analytical report on selected television public affairs programs’ coverage of the Senate and party-list elections and on the political advertising over selected TV stations and broadsheets is supplemental to the regular CMFR reports on the coverage of the elections by selected Manila broadsheets and TV news programs and is being issued only once. A one-time supplemental report on the elections coverage by selected AM radio stations and tabloids was issued by CMFR last week also as a supplemental report.

The CMFR reports on media coverage of the elections may be accessed at its website (www cmfr-phil.org).

Visit the CMFR website for more details.

Foreign journalists barred from interview in military camp

2007-05-10T19:58:00.000+08:00

Two journalists from the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) were banned from entering the Philippine Marines headquarters in Taguig City on 9 May 2007 for a pre- arranged interview with jailed opposition senatorial candidate and former Navy officer Antonio Trillanes IV.

Focap is the organization of foreign correspondents based in the Philippines.

Douglas Bakshian of the Voice of America and Sebastian Farcis of Radio France Internationale had no choice but to leave the camp after failing to submit a clearance from the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

A local court allowed Trillanes to grant interviews and to access the media for his campaigns from his detention cell. Trillanes is in prison for leading 321 soldiers in occupying a hotel-apartment building in the Makati City financial center supposedly in furtherance of a coup attempt on July 27, 2003. The occupation ended after 18 hours when Trillanes and fellow officers failed to rally support from the rest of the armed forces and public.

“This is a new policy. We were just responding to the Focap notice,” Bakshian said.

ANC news correspondent Adrian Ayalin, who interviewed Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan, said Focap did not coordinate with the military three days prior to the scheduled interview.

Bakshain stressed that he never experienced rejection when he went to military camps in Sulu and at Camp Aguinaldo before. “Well, this is the new Philippines ,” he said.

This was supported by Ayalin who said foreign media covered news in military camps before the policy was implemented.

The Public Information Office (PIO) of AFP, however, contradicted the claim. “The policy has been there since the 1950s,” chief operations of PIO-AFP Rosenna Robles said in Filipino. But when asked for a copy of the said policy Robles said it was “classified information and not for public consumption.”

In a report on GMANews TV, Focap president Manny Mogato of Reuters said Marine headquarters battalion commander Lt. Col. Luciardo Obeña showed him the policy barring foreign nationals from entering any military camp in the Philippines unless cleared by military intelligence.

Mogato said that Focap cannot do anything since it was the rule. “The only problem is we were not informed about this; and we have been covering the military for many years.”

Focap members, however, were prevented in the past from attending at least one press conference in Malacanang, the presidential palace.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently issued Executive Order (EO) No. 608, “establishing a national security clearance system for government personnel with access to classified matters and for other purposes.” The EO is being protested by, among others, the Access to Information Network for limiting public access to government information.

Under the new Arroyo EO, heads of government agencies with access to classified matters are directed to implement and institutionalize the security clearance procedure approved by the office of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.

Supplemental Report: Tabloid and AM Radio Coverage of the Senate and Party-List Elections (16-27 April 2007)

2007-05-09T12:09:00.000+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) writes an analytical report on the tabloid and AM radio coverage of the Senate and party-list elections. This report is supplemental to the regular CMFR reports on the coverage of the elections by selected Manila broadsheets and TV news programs and is being issued only once. A one-time supplemental report on the coverage of the TV public affairs programs and on the political advertisements on TV and print will follow.

The CMFR reports on media coverage of the elections may be accessed here in the CMFR website. CMFR is issuing at least five reports during the campaign period, as well as a consolidated and final report.

Visit the CMFR website for more details.

Resistance is the best defense against arbitrary power

2007-05-03T19:26:00.000+08:00

Statement of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility on Mike Arroyo’s withdrawal of his libel suits against 46 journalists
World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2007

The decision of presidential spouse Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo to withdraw the 11 libel suits he had filed against 46 journalists is a triumph for press freedom. But it also proves that resistance is the journalist’s best defense against arbitrary power.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), along with other journalists and media organizations, initiated a class suit against Mr. Arroyo’s abuse of his right to sue for libel in accordance with that democratic principle. The sheer number of the journalists Mr. Arroyo sued—46—and the number of suits he filed—11—suggested a determination to intimidate and silence the press. CMFR and the other organizations and individuals who filed the class suit affirmed what generations of journalists have learned in other times and places: that it would be a betrayal not only of press freedom but also of democracy itself to do nothing.

Mr. Arroyo may claim that he is withdrawing the suits as a gesture of goodwill, but the fact is that he should not have filed the suits in the first place. It is equally true that he would not have done so had not the determination of the journalists to fight back made it too politically costly for him and his wife’s government. The journalists who have now been freed from months of court hearings, inconvenience, and expense owe their liberation from harassment only to themselves.

The public should ask if Mr. Arroyo’s decision indicates a change of course in the Arroyo regime’s hostile relationship with press critics and in its treatment of press freedom and other civil rights. These are, after all, rights guaranteed to all citizens of this Republic by the Constitution. While the press community has reason to celebrate this victory, no one should forget that the killings of and other attacks against journalists now constitute a major threat against Philippine democracy.

Indeed no democracy can survive without a free press. Its defense is thus not solely the responsibility of journalists, but also that of the entire citizenry. CMFR calls not only on the press community but on all citizens as well to continue to fight for, and to defend, press freedom as the one pillar of liberty without which no democracy can endure.

Presidential spouse Mike Arroyo drops all libel suits

2007-05-03T18:33:00.000+08:00

Presidential spouse Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo ordered his lawyers to withdraw all the libel suits he had filed against Filipino journalists as a “gesture of peace” on 3 May 2007. Read by press secretary Ignacio Bunye in a media briefing in Malacañang, Arroyo’s announcement coincided with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day.

“Both in sincere gratitude to a nation that deserves a more harmonious leadership, and as a gesture of peace to the many kind hearts who have helped my family weather this crisis, I have instructed my attorneys to withdraw all the libel suits pending before the courts,” said Arroyo.

He added that “Seeking redress for all the grievances that the libel sought to address now pales in comparison to taking on a genuine chance to make peace and to pursue a more positive and constructive relationship with those who will accept my offer of a handshake.”

Two days before the announcement, Gloria Arroyo’s 60 year-old husband had been discharged from a hospital after undergoing high-risk open heart surgery. His doctors advised him to “manage his stress.”

Said Romina Gonzalez, a Malacañang reporter whom policemen had attempted to arrest in connection with one of Arroyo’s libel suits, “When he said what happened to him was nothing short of a miracle, I really believed it was a miracle. We were surprised.”

However, Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) executive director Roby Alampay commented, “SEAPA welcomes this but we’d rather credit the journalists for pushing back, rather than FGMA for any change of heart. The very heart of filing 11 cases was the crime. He is not fooling anyone, just as he is not scaring anyone. FGMA remains an enemy of press freedom. So no thanks to FGMA.”

Arroyo had filed 11 libel suits against 46 Filipino journalists since 2003. On 28 Dec. 2006, members of the Philippine media filed a class action suit against Arroyo for violating press freedom.

Maritess Vitug, Newsbreak editor and one of the libel respondents, said “We are glad that the First Gentleman has seen the light. But he should never have filed these cases in the first place. We would like this matter to be resolved on its merits. This will provide journalists with parameters on libel and what it is not.”

The journalists’ lawyer in the class action suit Atty. Harry Roque advised, “The suit should proceed. At issue is freedom of the speech as a right. It’s not dependent on the acts of Mike Arroyo. Besides he has already caused damage both actual and moral.”

CMFR releases primer for World Press Freedom Day

2007-05-02T21:29:00.000+08:00

The media advocacy and press freedom group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has released Philippine Press Freedom Primer: Quick Answers to Your Questions in commemoration of May 3 World Press Freedom Day.

The primer is meant to provide those unfamiliar with the state of press freedom in the

Philippines

a quick guide to and overview of press conditions in the country. It will be launched in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the joint United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Southeast Asian Press Alliance, or SEAPA, program on press freedom on May 3. The commemoration will have for theme, “Press Freedom, Journalists Safety and Impunity.”

SEAPA is a press freedom advocacy group with media advocacy and journalists’ groups from Thailand, Indonesia and the

Philippines

as members. CMFR is a founding member of SEAPA. Its Executive Director, Melinda Quintos de Jesus, is a member of its Board of Directors. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism is the other Philippine representative in SEAPA.

In her preface, CMFR’s Melinda Quintos de Jesus describes the primer as “designed to serve those making their first step of inquiry into the subject. It should be useful in planning research strategies for academic papers and as a quick reference for those writing articles and reports. For the general public, it is a ‘quick fix,’ a resource that will help contextualize current news about the press, from the violent attacks as well as the cases of libel which have caused journalists to be jailed.”

The primer looks into the Philippine media environment. It contains a short history of the Philippine press and past and present trends, as well as its ownership and market. Threats to press freedom in the country like the killings of journalists and intervention in the management of news organizations are also covered.

In its summary of press freedom laws in the Philippines, the primer also brings up several instances in which the right to free expression is being threatened through legal means, among them the rash of libel suits by the Presidents’ spouse against 46 journalists and the recently approved anti-terrorism bill (Human Security Act of 2007).

Self-regulation systems within the Philippine media are also taken up, among them the Philippine Journalist’s Code of Ethics, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas’ radio and television codes, citizen press councils, and media monitoring publications, among them CMFR’s Philippine Journalism Review (PJR) and PJR Reports. (CMFR is reviving PJR as a refereed journal for academics and senior journalists.)

The UNESCO-SEAPA World Press Freedom Day 2007 commemoration will address the difficulties regarding the safety of media practitioners, examine the impunity with which journalists are being attacked, and come up with means to enhance journalist safety.

Contact person:

Junette B. Galagala
(63 2) 894-1326/894-1314/840-0903/840-0889 (telefax)
staff@cmfr-phil.org
www.cmfr-phil.org
www.cmfr-phil.blogspot.com

Media coverage of elections declines in sixth and seventh weeks of campaign

2007-05-02T20:46:00.000+08:00

CMFR Monitor of News Media Coverage of the 2007 National Elections:
Media coverage of elections declines in sixth and seventh weeks of campaign
Consolidated report (February 13 to March 30, 2007)

A report on the media coverage of the elections during the first seven weeks of the campaign (February 13 to March 30) found that there was a decline in the media coverage of the elections in the last two weeks monitored, compared to the previous five weeks.

The media also tended to concentrate coverage on Team Unity (TU) and Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates, suggesting that the media regard the elections as a two-party contest, the report added.

Among the possible reasons for the decline in the coverage, said the media advocacy group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) was the decline in the number of election-related events, among them the arrest of Bayan Muna Congressman Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo, and the Ducat hostage-taking scenario, that could interest and hold audiences.

The CMFR report—the fourth so far—consolidates and summarizes the results of the first three of five reports on the coverage of the 2007 elections by the three Metro Manila broadsheets the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star, and the six news programs TV Patrol World and Bandila (ABS-CBN); 24 Oras and Saksi (GMA-7); Sentro (ABC-5); and Primetime Teledyaryo (NBN-4).

“The monitored media organizations in both broadcast and print thus tended to turn their attention to those events they regarded as more interesting and perhaps as important,” said CMFR.

While this was understandable in terms of adherence to conventional news values (human interest, significance, proximity, etc.), the decrease in the number of reports did indicate that the media were “being reactive to events rather than following an agenda based on a perception of the May elections’ significance.”

The controversies surrounding some of the candidates also helped boost their media exposure, indicating continuing media appetite for the more sensational aspects of elections reporting.

Among the examples CMFR cited were the case of reelectionist Sen. Francisco Pangilinan, who “earned substantial coverage during the first and second monitoring periods due to his decision to run as independent despite his ‘adoption’ by the GO.”

Actor Cesar Montano’s replacement of Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla in the administration’s TU slate also earned him valuable media prominence during the first two weeks of the campaign.

“Many of the reports also highlighted the conflicts and other controversies involving candidates. TU reelectionist Sen. Ralph Recto and his wife Vilma Santos’s feud with his brother Ricky was among the biggest news stories during the first period. GO’s Alan Peter Cayetano figured in many of the reports because of his persistent opposition to the candidacy of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan’s (KBL) Joselito Pepito Cayetano, who had adopted the nickname “Peter” (Joselito has been declared a nuisance candidate by the Commission on Elections.)

Meanwhile, TU and GO dominated the election reports as news sources in the broadsheets, suggesting that this year’s elections are primarily a two-party contest between them as far as the media are concerned.

CMFR is monitoring the coverage by selected media organizations and news programs. CMFR will release a total of six reports other than its final report, as well as supplemental reports on the elections coverage of selected tabloids, AM radio stations, and public affairs programs.

Scandals put party-list ahead in media coverage

2007-04-27T15:44:00.000+08:00

CMFR Monitor of News Media Coverage of the 2007 National Elections:
Scandals put party-list ahead in media coverage
But Team Unity retains coverage edge over Genuine Opposition

The Arroyo administration's Team Unity (TU) continued to be covered more than the Genuine Opposition (GO) by the three leading Manila newspapers and six TV news programs from March 17 to 30, the third campaign period monitored by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

But the most covered groups during the period were the party-list groups and personalities associated with them, although the coverage was often unfavorable because these groups were associated with court charges and accusations that some are either communist or administration "fronts."

Another significant finding of the monitoring team—two faculty members and 25 volunteer journalism students from the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, and the CMFR staff—"was the decline in the number of reports in the television news programs monitored as the number of TV ads from wealthier candidates like TU's Prospero Pichay Jr. began to inundate the two leading TV networks."

CMFR observed that "Television, which has considerably increased its reach (96 percent accessibility nationwide) since 2004 at the expense of radio, has become the medium most critical to national and even local campaigns, replacing even the grand rallies once usually held in plazas and other public places. The decline in the number of TV reports in the context of the steady increase in the number of TV ads, could once again put less wealthy candidates at a disadvantage in terms of lack of exposure to the TV audience, and, therefore, low name recall."

The third CMFR report on media coverage of the elections may be accessed at its website. CMFR is issuing at least five reports during the campaign period, as well as a consolidated and final report.

Hear ye, hear ye, Filipino journalists

2007-04-26T19:10:00.000+08:00

Interested in gaining practical journalism experience in the U.S.?

The International Journalism Exchange is now accepting applications until June 1.

The International Center for Journalists' International Journalism Exchange will bring ten mid-career newspaper editors with at least five years' experience from the developing world to the U.S. from October 8 to November 7 in 2007.

Participants will spend a week in Washington, D.C. where they will get to meet editors at major U.S. newspapers and learn about journalism in the capital. Then, they will head out to different parts of the country to work at a newspaper with about the same size circulation as the newspaper they left in their home country. There, the editors will spend several weeks observing and learning about all aspects of producing a U.S. newspaper, and are invited to exchange ideas and information with the host newsroom staff and local community. The program ends with a two-day event in New York where, in addition to touring the city and visiting media organizations, participants will get to visit the country's most prestigious newspaper, the New York Times.

Meet the "Other" Journalist

2007-04-10T05:04:00.000+08:00

"It is impossible to imagine a newspaper today without pictures," veteran journalist and educator Luz Rimban writes in the March 2007 issue of the PJR Reports. And yet, in the world of journalism, news photographers are "often considered second-class citizens."

"In the world of journalism— Philippine journalism at least— news photographers are often considered second-class citizens. They occupy the bottom rungs of a news organization, if they are there at all. They are also among the least paid, if they receive any regular compensation," Rimban writes in the main story "The life and (hard) times of the news photographer: The Other Journalist."

"And yet unlike the reporter who can produce a news article without even leaving his or her desk, the photographer has to brave crowds, heat, rain, and even bullets to be at a news event at exactly the right place and the right time to produce anything worth using for tomorrow’s paper."

Other stories in the March 2007 issue are:

Monitoring the coverage of the May '07 elections
Will Media Do a Better Job This Time?
by Venus L. Elumbre and Hector Bryant L. Macale

TV anchors and the news
What You See and What You Get
by Junette B. Galagala

The UN envoy on th political killings:
'In a State of Denial'
by Rachel E. Khan

Reporters Without Borders on the Philippine press
by More Murders and a New Enemy

The life and death of a crusader
The Ghost of Dong Batul
by Yasmin D. Arquiza

The rewards and heartaches of photojournalism
Life Behind the Lens
by Mike Perez

Buhay ng Photographer
(the original version as submitted by Mike Perez)

Arrest of Ocampo triggers surge in party list elections coverage

2007-04-04T06:52:00.000+08:00

The filing of charges against Bayan Muna's Congressman Saturnino "Satur" Ocampo, his arrest, the attempt to fly him to Leyte, and his detention at the Manila Police District headquarters triggered a surge in media coverage of the party-list elections during the period March 3–16, 2007.

This was among the findings of the ongoing Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) monitor of media coverage of the senatorial and party-list elections. CMFR is monitoring the TV news programs TV Patrol World and Bandila (ABS-CBN 2); 24 Oras and Saksi (GMA-7); Sentro (ABC-5); Primetime Teledyaryo (NBN-4), as well as the front pages of the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star.

CMFR is issuing two-week reports on the media coverage of the elections. It issued its first report on March 16.

Check the CMFR web for more details.

Solon prevented from speaking to the media

2007-03-23T11:06:00.000+08:00

Members of the press were prevented from interviewing detained Bayan Muna (Nation First) Representative Satur Ocampo by his police custodians, who claimed that media interviews would be risky for Ocampo, Inquirer.net reported on 21 March 2007. Ocampo and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) have protested the ban.

The 67-year old solon was arrested on 16 March 2007 and is presently detained at the Manila Police District (MPD) Headquarters. Ocampo, who was a business reporter for seven years in the 1960s for a national daily, was ordered arrested by a court in Hilongos, Leyte for his alleged involvement in the purge of communist rebels in 1984-85 in that province. Leyte is in the Eastern Visayas group of islands south of Manila.

Ocampo has steadfastly declared his innocence and accused the Arroyo government of concocting the charges to prevent him from campaigning for the May 10 mid-term elections.

“I am protesting this ban by my custodians against media interviews. I should not be prevented from speaking,” Ocampo was quoted in the Inquirer report.

The NUJP described the ban as “high-handed and arbitrary.”

NUJP said “reporters do not pose any security threat for Ocampo and there is no link between the lawmaker's exercise to free speech with dangers to his person.”

Ocampo said journalists had been waiting outside the MPD headquarters waiting to get a clearance from his custodians for an interview.

Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarsoza, director of the Manila Police District, claimed they were only assuring the safety of Ocampo.

“There is a security risk. We don’t want to jeopardize security…and what’s there to ask? All the questions that should be asked have probably been asked,” Abarsoza said.

Abarzosa's comment, "what's there to ask?", said NUJP “is not just fatuous; it is dangerous because we have a police officer taking over the news judgment functions of editors and reporters. This, in effect, is prior restraint on media.”

Police have recently dug up the remains of what they said were victims of communist purges in the 1980s located in Kaulisihan village, Inopacan, Leyte.

Ocampo said he was detained in a military prison at the time the mass execution of communists allegedly took place. Martial law was in place in the Philippines from 1972 to 1986.

“I was arrested on January 14, 1976 and was under military custody until May 5, 1985. This renders impossible the claim that I was in Leyte in 1984 to supervise the purported purge,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo was detained and tried by a military court from 1976-1985 for rebellion, of which he was never found guilty. His lawyers also claim that he is covered by amnestry proclamations by Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos.

Ocampo’s party, Bayan Muna, which has demanded the resignation of Presidenty Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for alleged electoral fraud in 2004, has led the party list elections since 2001. Surveys say it is likely to repeat the feat this year.

Newspaper editors and publisher post bail for libel

2007-03-23T10:42:00.000+08:00

The publisher, along with seven editors of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the Philippines’ major dailies, was detained for an hour at a Manila Police Station on 20 March 2007 after posting a libel bond of P50,000 (approx. $1,000). A Manila court issued had issued warrants for their arrest over a P22 million ($440,000) libel charge by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.

Publisher Isagani Yambot, editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez Magsanoc, managing editor Jose Ma. Nolasco, associate editor Abelardo Ulanday, associate editor for readership Rosario Garcellano, news editor Artemio Engracia Jr., opinion editor Jorge Aruta, national editor Pergentino Bandayrel Jr., senior desk editor Juan Sarmiento Jr., and columnist Ramon Tulfo were ordered arrested by Judge Virgilio Alameda of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 after he found “probable cause” in the libel complaint of Arroyo.

The Inquirer reported that Magsanoc was not able to post bail because she was sick. Tulfo, meanwhile told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that he will post bail for the Inquirer case along with the staff of Bandera, a tabloid in Filipino where Tulfo’s column appears in translation. Arroyo has also sued the publisher, editor-in-chief, associate editor, and circulation manager of Bandera along with Tulfo.

Tulfo’s columns linked Arroyo to the alleged smuggling activities of businessmen Sammy Lim, and Vicky and Thomas Toh. Vicky has been romantically linked to Arroyo.

Yambot and the seven Inquirer editors had posted bail at the Manila RTC at around 2 pm (local time), the Inquirer reported. They were told to go to Manila Police Station 10 to “voluntarily surrender.” They arrived at 4 pm and were released an hour later when a release order issued by Manila Regional Trial Court branch 10 Judge Virgilio Zalameda reached the police station.

Zalameda’s March 15 arrest order said that “the court hereby finds probable cause against the accused showing a reasonable belief that the crime of libel (five counts) has been committed and that the accused are probably guilty of the offenses charged.”

Tulfo maintains that there was nothing libelous in his columns.

“The only goal of Mr. Arroyo is to gag the media. His aim is to silence me and intimidate journalists who write articles critical of him,” Tulfo told the CMFR.

Tulfo said that Arroyo’s libel suits will not affect his work as a columnist.

Yambot described Arroyo’s libel suit against the Inquirer as part of Arroyo’s attempt “to muzzle the press, hoping to produce a chilling effect.”

Yambot also noted an irregularity in the way the libel case was dealt with by the country’s justice system.

“There was unusual haste in this particular case. It was the first time the justice system worked so fast,” Yambot said in the Inquirer.

Arroyo has filed 11 libel suits against 46 journalists. The CMFR, along with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Daily Tribune, and several editors and reporters filed on 28 December 2007 a P 12. 5 million ($250,000) class action suit against Arroyo for his numerous libel suits against the press. The plaintiffs in the class action suit invoked Articles 19, 20, 21 and 32 of the Philippine Civil Code and said that Arroyo had abused his right to sue and violated press freedom.

Arroyo, who is a lawyer, along with his legal aides claimed that he is not a public figure and should not be subjected to media scrutiny.

A ruling by Manila Judge Zenaida Daguna on 8 March 2007, however, contradicts Arroyo’s claim. Daguna dismissed Arroyo’s libel complaint against former Solicitor General Frank Chavez and said that (Arroyo) is the “First Gentleman of the Republic of the Philippines. It cannot be denied that he is a public figure.”

Arroyo had sued Chavez after the former solicitor general was quoted in news reports as linking the president’s husband to the P728 million (approx. $14,560,000) fertilizer funds scam in the Department of Agriculture that was allegedly used for the election campaign of his wife President Arroyo in 2004.

“…the press ha(s) a privilege, under the Constitution, to inform the public about those who have become legitimate matters of public interest. The acts and lives of public figures are more open to criticism, comments and remarks. Private complainant, therefore, cannot claim that he was defamed by the articles,” Daguna said in her five-page decision.

CMFR Monitor of News Media Coverage of the 2007 National Elections First Report: TV, broadsheets covered TU most in first three weeks of campaign

2007-03-16T16:07:00.000+08:00

First Report (February 13 - March 2)

The media advocacy group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has found that the six leading television news programs and the three largest Manila broadsheets covered the Arroyo administration’s Team Unity (TU) candidates most in the first three weeks of the campaign. CMFR is monitoring the 2007 elections coverage of selected media organizations.

But CMFR deputy director and University of the Philippines journalism professor Luis V. Teodoro said no bias was evident.

“The TU’s getting more coverage was driven by the conventions of newsworthiness,” Teodoro said. “One indication is that due to his prominence, opposition leader and former President Joseph Estrada was more frequently quoted in the news accounts than administration personalities.”

The CMFR March 12 report also said the Genuine Opposition (GO) was a close second to TU in the coverage by both television and the broadsheets from February 13 to March 2.

The six monitored television news programs’ coverage of the senatorial and party-list elections ranged from 8.74 percent to 41.90 percent of total airtime during the first three weeks of the senatorial campaign, according to CMFR.

There were 158 newspaper reports about the TU candidates, while GO candidates were among the subjects of 128 reports.

But the reports were mostly about the controversies involving candidates in both teams, said CMFR. Among these was the decision by former oppositionists Edgardo Angara, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Teresa “Tessie” Aquino-Oreta to join TU.

CMFR is monitoring the elections coverage by the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star. The TV news programs CMFR is monitoring are TV Patrol World (ABS-CBN 2), Bandila (ABS-CBN 2), 24 Oras (GMA-7), Saksi (GMA-7), Sentro (ABC-5), and Primetime Teledyaryo (NBN-4). It has trained 30 journalism student-volunteers from the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UPCMC) to generate the data.
CMFR said that while coverage of the Senate elections seemed ample, the party-list elections seemed to be getting little attention.

The gay-lesbian group Ang Ladlad was the party-list group most covered by all six TV news programs, with a total airtime of only 4.28 minutes. It was followed by Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women’s Party, AnakPawis, and Kabataan Party.

Of the twenty senatorial candidates most covered by the TV news programs during the period, 11 were from TU, eight from GO, and one independent.

TU’s Cesar Montano – who replaced Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla in the administration’s senatorial line-up last February 16 – had the most combined airtime coverage by the six television news programs at 79.32 minutes. Ralph Recto (also of TU) was a far second with 58.57 minutes, followed by Alan Peter Cayetano (GO), Francis Pangilinan (Independent) and Prospero Pichay (TU).

The most reported senatorial candidates in the three leading Manila broadsheets were almost exclusively from either the administration or opposition parties. There were only 26 reports on the independent candidates. Most of these focused on the decision by Pangilinan to run as an independent bet despite a previous GO announcement that it was adopting him as a guest candidate.

Much lesser coverage was given candidates of the Marcos-era party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) – with practically all the reports focusing on the party’s controversial candidate, Joselito Pepito Cayetano and his adopting the nickname “Peter”. The campaign jingles of various candidates and the ad spending of various candidates were also noted in the reports, particularly in the Inquirer. The Inquirer covered extensively the marital spat between celebrity couple Kris Aquino and James Yap, and its effect on the senatorial campaign of Ms. Aquino’s brother, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

The feud between couple Vilma Santos and Sen. Ralph Recto with the latter’s brother, Batangas Vice-Gov. Ricky Recto, over the gubernatorial contest in Batangas was also consistently covered by the paper.

The Inquirer was the only paper that reported on Ang Kapatiran Party and its candidates, focusing on its advocacy of non-traditional politics. Although the Inquirer gave the party and its candidates much-needed public exposure, the reports did not include the party’s program of action.

Among the senatorial candidates of the administration, the most covered by the broadsheets were Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay (20 reports out of 101), Recto (18), and Cesar Montano (13).

The most covered GO candidates were current Senate President Manuel Villar (20), Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero III (12), and Taguig’s Alan Peter Cayetano (12).

Pichay, Recto, and Villar were cited in a recent study by Nielsen Media Research Philippines (NMRP) as the biggest television advertisement spenders in the first two weeks of the campaign.

Of all the senatorial candidates, according to NMRP, Pichay spent the most, at about P33 million, for TV ad spots in the first two weeks of the campaign, while re-electionist senators Villar and Recto spent P30.29 million and P22.79 million, respectively.

The CMFR monitor will continue until the end of the campaign period in May. It is issuing reports on its findings every two weeks, to culminate in a final report by June. CMFR has been doing elections coverage monitors since its founding in 1989. It did a first ever citizens’ monitor of the national elections in 2004, the findings of which it published that year (Citizens’ Media Monitor: A Report on the Campaign and Elections Coverage in the Philippines, 2004).

Visit the CMFR website for the report and other details.

Radio station bombed

2007-03-13T17:56:00.000+08:00

An unidentified individual onboard a motorcycle bombed the service vehicle of dxCC (828kHz), a radio station of the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), parked in front of the station in Cagayan de Oro city, Misamis Oriental, on 13 March 2007 at around 2:45 a.m. (local time). Cagayan de Oro is in northern Mindanao, the Philippines’ second largest island.

No one was reported hurt in the incident, but it destroyed the van and damaged another vehicle, a motorcycle and the station sign. According to Jac Gumapac, one of the radio station’s commentators, the unknown assailant opened the window of the L300 vehicle and lobbed a molotov cocktail inside. Gumapac said that the attack may have been provoked by the station’s commentaries.

“Our station is really known to be hard-hitting when it comes to political commentaries. We do not fear anyone, even the top officials of the local government,” Gumapac said in Filipino.

Responding firefighters put out the fire caused by the bomb. Gumapac estimated the total damage at P675, 000 (approx. $13, 500).

Gumapac said that it was usual for the radio station to receive threats almost every week. Before the bombing incident, dxCC station manager Saldy Ocon, who is also a political commentator in the station as well as a city councilor, had received a death threat via text (SMS) message. Gumapac said Ocon did not pay much attention to the threat.

DWRC Radyo Cagayano, a radio station in Baggao, Cagayan Valley, was burned down by eight men last July 2, 2006. Cagayan Valley is a province north of Manila. The unidentified assailants burned down the station’s transmitter and broadcast booth and took the cell phones of six staff members before tying and blindfolding them.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility database has recorded 62 journalists/media practitioners killed in the line of duty since 1986. Fifty-eight (58) of the victims were provincial journalists.

Five journalists post bail; editor released after a night in jail

2007-03-08T21:13:00.000+08:00

Four editors, including one who was arrested and spent a night in a police station, and a staff writer of a Philippine online magazine, posted P10, 500 ($210) bail bond each at the Pasig city police station on 8 March 2007 over a P100 million ($20,000) libel suit filed by Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson in 2005. Singson is now a candidate for senator under the Arroyo administration ticket. Ilocos Sur is a province north of Manila.

Arrest warrants were supposed to be served on Newsbreak editor in chief Marites Vitug, managing editor Maan Hontiveros, business editor Lala Rimando, online editor Gemma Bagayaua, and staff writer Aries Rufo on 7 March 2007.

Bagayaua was the only one arrested as she was the only one present in Newsbreak’s office in the Manila suburb of Pasig when police officers arrived at around 3 p.m. (local time). Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.

The arrest warrant had been issued on 15 February 2007 by Judge Dominador Arquilada of the Vigan Regional Trial Court branch 21 but reached the Pasig police only on 7 March 2007.

Bagayaua spent the night in the Pasig City police headquarters. She was not able to post bail after her arrest because the head of the police warrant office was not around to release the papers for bail. Vitug said that they tried to post bail in a night court in Quezon City, but failed
to do so as it was open only until 6 p.m.

Friends and members of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines lighted candles during the night of Bagayaua’s detention in solidarity and to protest the arrest. The five Newsbreak staffers posted bail at 9 a.m. March 8, but were able to leave the police station only at 2:30 p.m. because of legal technicalities.

Bagayaua, who was released after about 21 hours of detention, said she was “relieved”. “This has been a nuisance. I am supposed to be doing other work and this has been a big inconvenience,” Bagayaua said.

Singson filed the libel suit on 22 June 2005 over the 6 June 2005 issue of Newsbreak that contained stories about his influence on the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration as well as on his assets.

Singson was reportedly ready to drop the charges if the Newsbreak staff apologized. Vitug however said that they will not apologize as they are standing by their stories. “Our stories are well documented. We stand on solid ground,” Vitug said.

Vitug also reiterated the call for libel to be decriminalized as libel has been a potent tool of harassment in the Philippines, where “the powerful can really get away with anything and journalists are at a disadvantage.”

Rogelio Vinluan, Newsbreak’s lawyer, has filed a petition for review and a transfer of the case from Manila to Vigan, the capital of Ilocos Sur, where Singson holds office as governor. Vitug, along with associate editor Glenda Gloria, four former staffers and a contributor, has also been sued for libel by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Mike Arroyo has sued a total of 46 journalists for libel.

Can the public rely on the press to make informed choices in this coming elections?

2007-03-06T03:17:00.000+08:00

Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter Tarra Quismundo attended the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility round table discussion on monitoring the news media coverage of elections earlier today, and here's her report posted in the Inquirer's site.

Media watchdog monitoring poll coverage
Source: Inquirer.net

Underlining the media’s role in helping the electorate vote correctly, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has begun a three-month review of the election reportage of leading media outlets in order to assess their performance in this election.

Despite limited manpower and resources, the CMFR has started monitoring the election coverage of three major dailies and six television news programs, reprising its effort during the 2004 elections.

“It’s important because we want to know how the media are providing the public the information it needs so that it can make informed choices. The usual complaint in the Philippines is that we haven’t been choosing our leaders very well, so one of the ways the media can help in that area is by providing the information that the people need,” CMFR deputy director and journalism professor Luis Teodoro said.

Read more here.

2007 Media and Elections: Media Monitoring

2007-02-26T21:18:00.000+08:00

The campaign season is officially on. Are we getting relevant information about the senatorial and party-list candidates from the press? Is the press helping us decide who to vote for on May 14? Or are we just getting more confusing and misleading information?

Watch for the results of the 2007 Media and Elections: Media Monitoring—the latest project of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)—which will be released soon, to find out how the press is covering the 2007 senatorial and party-list campaign and elections.

CMFR has been monitoring the performance of the press since 1989. Its landmark citizens’ media monitoring project in the 2004 presidential elections, which included coverage of television, was a first in the Philippine electoral experience. The 2004 citizens’ media monitoring project, which included citizen groups in a broader media watch of press coverage, was also the first time that reports were released during the campaign period.

Visit www.cmfr-phil.org and www.cmfr-phil.blogspot.com to know more about the project. You may also call (894-1326/894-1314/840-0903/840-0889) or email (staff@cmfr-phil.org) CMFR for details.

President’s husband files another libel charge (UPDATED)

2007-02-22T17:01:00.000+08:00

Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sued seven staff members of the Manila-based broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer, including the publisher and several editors, and demanded P11 million ($220, 000) in damages last 20 February 2007.

Libel is a criminal offense in the Philippines.

The libel suit is based on a 2 March 2006 article written by Fe Zamora, “Mike A didn’t go to Marawi? Tell that to the Marines.” The article reported the negative reaction of Marine soldiers in Campo Ranao, Marawi city in Mindanao, to denials by Arroyo’s lawyer that the presidential spouse was there to buy votes and bribe election officials during the 2004 presidential elections.

Aside from Zamora, the other respondents in the suit are Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot, editor–in-chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, managing editor Jose Ma. Nolasco, associate editors Abelardo Ulanday and Rosario Garcellano, and news editor Artemio Engracia Jr.

The number of journalists sued by Arroyo for libel now totals 46, as Yambot, Magsanoc and the other editors had already been sued by Arroyo because of a series of columns by Ramon Tulfo that appeared in the Inquirer in 2006.

“I have suffered serious emotional trauma, mental anguish, serious anxiety, (and) public embarrassment. It caused serious dishonor to my person and family,” an Inquirer report quoted Arroyo.

Arroyo also said that the respondents acted with actual malice, intended to “malign and cause irreparable damage” to him. They acted, he said, with reckless disregard of whether or not their accusations were true, and they should be held liable for P10 million ($200, 000) in damages and P1 million ($20, 000) in legal expenses.

Zamora said she has not received a copy of the complaint and declined to comment.

Zamora’s report had cited the September 2005 testimony of retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani on the alleged involvement of military officers in the 2004 balloting, as revealed in the “Hello, Garci” tapes.

The “Hello, Garci” tapes were a series of wiretapped conversations believed to be between president Arroyo and former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano discussing the rigging of the elections.

Gudani alleged in a Senate hearing on September 2005 that Mike Arroyo had flown to Marawi carrying bags containing P500 million ($10 million) which was allegedly used to bribe election officials. “I vehemently deny that I ever went to Marawi for the purpose of buying votes or to manipulate the (2004) elections in any way. I deny having brought P500 million anywhere for any purpose. I deny having requested anyone, much less any member of the military, to manipulate the election,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo filed the libel case before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office accompanied by three of his lawyers. A class action suit was filed by more than half of the then 45 journalists sued by Arroyo together with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and The Daily Tribune, on 28 December 2006. The class action suit, which is asking for P12. 5 million ($250, 000) in damages, argues that Arroyo has abused his right to sue and is damaging press freedom by filing a spate of libel cases against journalists.

Mike Arroyo has been tagged by Reporters Without Borders as the “new enemy” of the press in the Philippines for his “raft of defamation suits” against journalists.

Another journalist shot dead in Mindanao

2007-02-22T14:48:00.000+08:00

The associate publisher of Lightning Courier, a news weekly in Mindanao, was shot dead by a lone gunman just outside his house in Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan, on the early morning of 19 February 2007.

According to Sultan Kudarat police chief Ismael Mama, Hernan Pastolero was sitting in a basketball court outside his house in Bulalo village around 6:20 when an unknown assailant shot him twice in the back of the head using a .45 caliber pistol. Mama added that the killer, who was around 25-30 years old, also had a lookout.

Avelino Acoymo, publisher of Cotawato Express, who has worked with Pastolero, said that he did not know anyone with whom the late associate publisher had any conflict.

“He was a good person and I don’t think he had any enemies,” Acoymo said.

Mama, who was tasked to head the Task Force Pastolero created by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police director Joel Goltiao, said that the police are still establishing the motive behind the killing as no one has been willing to give a statement on the incident.

According to Acoymo, Pastolero, who started in the broadcast industry in the 80s, was more focused on the business aspect of the newspaper rather than on writing stories. Pastolero also served as editor in chief of the defunct Mindanao Newscast, a former community paper in the same area.

Pastolero’s son, Hernane Pastolero Jr., said his father was not a hard-hitting journalist and the stories he wrote in the past were only about local news in their province. He also said that he does not know of any threat his father had received.

“My father was a good person. He was well respected in the community and he even extended help to those in need,” Pastolero Jr. said.

Pastolero was the second journalist to be killed in Sultan Kudarat after the 24 March 2005 killing of Marlene Esperat, columnist of The Midland Review, who was exposing corruption in the local government. Esperat’s killers, Gerry Cabayag, Estanislao Bismanos, and Randy Grecia, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on 6 October 2006 after a celebrated ten-month trial.

The death of Pastolero coincided with the visit of the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Philip Alston, who is in the country investigating the killing of political activists and journalists.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has recorded 61 journalists/media practitioners killed in the line of duty since 1986, 30 of which occurred during the present Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration. In only four cases out of 61 have there been any convictions.

Manila-based newspaper charged with inciting to sedition

2007-02-16T19:20:00.000+08:00

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged the publisher and two columnists of Manila-based newspaper The Daily Tribune, a known critic of the Gloria Arroyo administration, with inciting to sedition for allegedly publishing articles that encourage the people to rise against the government.

Article 139 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines defines sedition as “committed by persons who rise publicly and tumultuously in order to attain by force, intimidation, or by other means outside of legal methods” such acts as preventing the promulgation or execution of any law, or preventing a government official in the performance of his duties.

Article 141 states that a person, “without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition,” has committed inciting to sedition by inciting others “to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition, by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners, or other representations tending to the same end.”

Chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuno approved separate criminal charges against publisher Ninez Cacho-Olivares and columnists Ike Seneres and Herman Tiu Laurel and recommended P12, 000 bail ($240) for each. Senior state prosecutor Philip Kimpo, who conducted the preliminary investigation, said that “the accused (have) continuously maligned and undermined the present administration.”

A 21 December 2006 DOJ ruling stated that the articles and editorials “showed grossly abusive statements against the institutions of the Philippine government as well as to its present officials and called for the booting out of this government as the only solution.” The 29 page
resolution, which was mailed only last 5 February 2006, cited seven of the paper’s editorials and five of Olivares’ columns.

“Aptly, it must be understood and always borne in mind that there is a vast difference between criticism or fair comment on the one side and defamation on the other. Where defamation commences, true criticism ends,” Kimpo said in an interview over GMA7 television.

Olivares said that the charge was meant to silence her “through intimidation” and to frighten her “into going soft on criticisms against her (Arroyo) and her government” in time for the coming May senatorial elections.

“(T)he Justice Department (is) once again trying to scare me off and silence me. If they can’t do it with a bullet, they will do it through the courts,” Olivares said. The first of the editorials cited in the charge, “Candles for Truth,” was published in September 2005.

Asher Dolina, National Capital Region chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), filed the complaint.

The CIDG is the same group that raided the Tribune office on 25 February 2007 last year after the declaration of Presidential Proclamation (PP) 1017. The raid was later declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional on 3 May 2006.

Arroyo issued PP 1017 on 24 February 2006 placing the country under a state of national emergency. The administration afterwards issued guidelines for the media prohibiting news and commentaries that are “subversive,” and said that the government is closely monitoring the
press.

PP1017 was widely criticized and resulted in a petition by the media before the Court of Appeals asserting their constitutionally protected rights against censorship and prior restraint.

Check out the previous alert made by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility on the sedition charges filed against Olivares, Señeres, and Laurel last March 2006.

Welcome to the Philippines, one of Asia's deadliest for journalists

2007-02-09T18:35:00.000+08:00

The Philippines was one of the most dangerous places for journalists in Asia in 2006, according to the annual report made by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

WORLD: 'Philippines, Afghanistan deadliest for journalists'
Committee to Protect Journalists announces the deadliest places for reporters in 2006
Source: AsiaMedia

The Philippines and Afghanistan were the most dangerous places for journalists in Asia in 2006, while Thai media suffered under a new military government and dozens of reporters remained behind bars in China, a US media rights group said on Tuesday in its annual report.

"We look at most countries in Asia, and we see a real step backward," said Robert Dietz, Asia coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "Things don't look good. We don't see any positive trends."

The Philippines and Afghanistan had the highest journalist deaths in the region last year, the New York-based group said. With three deaths each, the two countries ranked globally only behind Iraq, where 32 journalists were killed that year.

Read more here.

US media icon dies at 87

2007-02-06T01:38:00.000+08:00

US media icon Charles E. Scripps, scion of a legendary media family and the board chairman of The E.W. Scripps Co. for more than four decades, died Saturday of natural causes at age 87.

According to this article, as board chairman from 1953 until 1994, Scripps presided over the growth of The E.W. Scripps Co. as a newspaper publisher and the company's entry into other forms of media, including broadcast television, cable TV systems, cable TV networks and the Internet."

Click here and here for more details about his death. Scripps's photo at left taken from here.

Quezon City court drops editor’s libel cases against actress

2007-02-03T23:15:00.000+08:00

TWO LIBEL cases, this time filed by a journalist against an actress, were dropped on 30 January 2007 after both parties reached an out-of-court settlement.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 88 Judge Rosanna Fe Maglaya junked journalist Jo-Ann Maglipon’s suits against actress Claudine Barretto after confirming that the editor-in-chief of Yes! and former executive editor of Hi! magazine was withdrawing the suits. Yes! and Hi! are both entertainment magazines published by Summit Media.

Barretto first filed an injunction and a civil suit for damages against Maglipon on 22 July 2005, claiming that her photographs had been published in Yes! without her consent. The July 2005 issue of Hi! magazine carried photos of her daughter’s christening. She also claimed to have received “non-stop negative publicity, craftily disguised as feature stories.”

Barretto asked for P8 million ($160,000) in damages as well as a restraining order that would keep Maglipon and “all those acting under her control and direction” at least 250 meters away from her, “her immediate family, and her places of residence.”

Barretto claimed that she had been “a victim of unfair and irresponsible journalism” that violated her rights as well as that of her family. In response, Maglipon filed seven libel suits, three of which were affirmed in court. She said in her complaint that Barretto’s imputations that she is an irresponsible journalist and a violator of human rights “directly caused dishonor and discredit on her as a professional writer and as a person.”

A number of journalists supported Maglipon, whom they described as a responsible practitioner, and said Barreto’s efforts to prevent Maglipon and her staff from writing about her was a breach of press freedom.

Barretto also accused Maglipon’s daughter Patricia Marcelo of gate-crashing the final shoot of her TV fantasy series Marina and of taking “illegal” pictures of the taping. Yes! carried the photographs in September 2004 but Barretto claimed these were “unofficial” and should not
have been published.

Marcelo, a trained diver, was actually hired by series producer ABS-CBN TV as part of the cast. She filed a P150,000 civil suit against the actress for allegedly damaging her name.

Barretto’s manager Johnny Manahan and Summit Media publisher Lisa Gokongwei agreed to resolve the matter out of court. A Memorandum of Agreement was signed in October 2006, in which Barretto and Maglipon agreed to withdraw each other’s complaints.

2006 a dismal year for media; 2007 looks like it's not going to be better -- RSF

2007-02-03T13:32:00.000+08:00

The year 2006 was dismal year for the media, with a high number of journalists and media workers killed or thrown in prison around the world. The year 2007 looks like it is no different from the previous years, as six journalists and four media assistants have been killed in January alone, the Paris-based press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its 2007 Annual World Press Report.

In its annual report on the Philippines, RSF said: "Despite new arrests of murderers, the authorities failed to stem the wave of violence against journalists. At least six were killed in 2006. And the press also found itself facing a new enemy: José Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Arroyo, who took out a raft of defamation suits."

According to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility's count of journalists and media practitioners killed in the line of duty last year, the six journalists were Rolly Cañete, Orlando Mendoza, Fernando Batul, George Vigo, Maricel Alave-Vigo, Armando “Rachman” Pace. For more of CMFR's list of journalist and media practitioners killed in the line of duty, click here.

2007 Annual Press Freedom Report
Reporters Without Borders

The survey, published on 1 February, reports on press freedom in 98 countries and includes the main violations of journalists' rights in 2006 and regional aspects of media and Internet freedom.

The report (in English, French, Spanish and Arabic) can be read at www.rsf.org and downloaded in its entirety or by region.

"The report lists the worst violations in repressive countries, including major culprits North Korea, Eritrea, Cuba and Turkmenistan, but also looks at democracies, where progress needs to be made too," the organisation says.

"A disturbingly record number of journalists and media workers were killed or thrown in prison around the world in 2006 and we are already concerned about 2007, as six journalists and four media assistants have been killed in January alone," the report's introduction says.

"But beyond these figures is the alarming lack of interest (and sometimes even failure) by democratic countries in defending the values they are supposed to incarnate."

"Almost everyone believes in human rights these days but amid the silences and behaviour on all sides, we wonder who now has the necessary moral authority to make a principled stand in favour of these freedoms."

The publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed focused the world's attention in 2006 on the issue of freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs. Democratic countries did not defend Denmark, whose embassies were attacked, or the journalists who were threatened and arrested. Europe especially seemed to choose silence for fear of offending Arab or Muslims regimes.

Media workers in the Middle East were once again the victims of the region's chronic instability. 65 journalists and media assistants were killed in Iraq and kidnappings were more frequent there and in the Palestinian Territories. Despite repeated promises, the region's governments have not introduced significantly greater democracy.

In Latin America, the murder of nearly a dozen journalists in Mexico with virtual impunity, the continued imprisonment of more than a score in Cuba and the deteriorating situation in Bolivia (nevertheless the best-ranked country of the South in the Reporters Without Borders annual press freedom index) are all signals to the international community to be very vigilant.

Press freedom violations in Asia peaked with 16 media workers killed, at least 328 arrested, 517 physically attacked or threatened and 478 media outlets censored in 2006. Censorship is very widespread and complete freedom to speak and write is rare in Asia.

Many African governments, especially those in the Horn of Africa, distrust media workers. The killers of journalists are also not being punished and are still being protected by governments and all-powerful politicians in Gambia, Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dictatorships also seem to be tightening their grip on the Internet and at least 60 people are in prison for posting criticism of the government online. China, the leading offender, is being copied by Vietnam, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Iran and more and more bloggers and cyber-dissidents are in jail.

Philippines - Annual report 2007

Despite new arrests of murderers, the authorities failed to stem the wave of violence against journalists. At least six were killed in 2006. And the press also found itself facing a new enemy: José Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Arroyo, who took out a raft of defamation suits.

While her husband was lodging "defamation" complaints against more than 40 journalists, President Arroyo said, on 18 November 2006, that her government was "respectful of press freedom, an institution of Philippines democracy". On the same day, journalist Ellen Tordesillas, a stern critic of the government received an email warning her: "Your days are numbered". Murders, assaults, arrests, abusive law suits and censorship were the hallmark of 2006 in this country.

The avalanche of suits brought by the "first gentleman" in a country where defamation is still a criminal offence, put the liberty of scores of journalists in danger. In October, eight members of the management on privately-owned daily Malaya narrowly escaped arrest after publishing an editorial accusing the head of state's husband of "corruption". In a total of 43 suits brought against journalists, José Miguel Arroyo claimed a total of 70 million pesos (almost 1.1 million euros) in damages. In December, journalists' organisations counter-attacked by bringing a complaint in their turn against the president's husband for violating press freedom and demanding one peso in damages for each Philippine citizen.

Faced with a rebellion within the army, the president declared a state of emergency, on 24 February 2006. Several generals were locked up and the crackdown extended to the opposition press. Police searched The Daily Tribune on the same day and seized documents.

At least six journalists were murdered while doing their job in 2006, the majority of them were presenters on one of the country's very numerous FM radio stations. In the Philippines, local stations sell airtime to private individual known as "block timers" who can then put out their own commercial or political programmes. Rolly Canete, gunned down in January 2006 in the city of Pagadian, Zamboanga del sur province in the south, presented programmes on local radio on behalf of a deputy and his wife, the province's governor. Hit-men sometimes show extreme determination. Fernando Batul, commentator on dyPR radio was shot dead on his way to work on Palawan Island, south-west of Manila in May. A few weeks earlier he narrowly escaped a murder bid in which two grenades were thrown at his home. His assailants had left a letter advising him to "hold your tongue". A police officer was arrested a few days later and the instigators were reportedly local politicians. The local press can also be targeted in the same way. Orlando Mendoza, aged 58, editor of the newspaper Tarlac Patro in Luzon province was murdered in April after receiving threats from a paramilitary group.

Gloria Arroyo's administration has been widely criticised for its inability to act against the murderers of opposition and human rights activists. Some politically committed journalists have been victims of this political violence as in the case of Mazel and George Vigo who were killed on Mindanao Island in June. Community media defending the rights of peasant farmers were also targeted. In July, armed men torched a building housing Radyo Cagayano, one of whose presenters, a peasant union leader, was killed a few months later. The military is suspected of being behind these attacks.

Police and the courts have chalked up some successes in their struggle against the murderers of journalists. Four men found guilty of the murder of Marlene Esperat, a journalist specialising in corruption, who was killed in March 2005, were sentenced to life imprisonment. But collusion inside the justice system allowed those who ordered the killing to escape court for the time being. On the other hand, a former police officer suspected of being the "brains" behind the June 2004 murder of journalist Ely Binoya, was acquitted in March. The regional court in General Santos, southern Philippines, said that there was insufficient evidence against him.

There were at least 25 murder attempts and assaults and ten arrests during 2006. Censorship also bit deeper, often because of local politicians seeking to silence opposition media. In March the mayor of Valencia City, south of Manila, ordered the closure of radio DXVR, some of whose presenters were close to their political opponents. In the capital, a programme of reports on ABS-CBN was banned by the regulatory authority over the controversial subject of drug use in the country.

Finally the authorities in Aurora province, north-east of Manila, failed to mount any search for radio presenter Joey Estriber, a specialist on environmental issues, who was kidnapped in March. He had spoken out against illegal logging in the region.

Provincial governor warns journalists

2007-01-27T20:23:00.000+08:00

Governor Josie Mendoza dela Cruz of Bulacan, a province north of Manila, warned journalists on 22 January 2007 that she will file libel charges against them if they report “unsubstantiated news to malign her reputation.”

“Anticipating various tactics of political mudslinging pending the coming May elections dela Cruz declared that she would file charges against members of the press who… write or report unsubstantiated news to malign her reputation,” a report from the provincial public affairs office of Bulacan said.

Dela Cruz made the announcement before provincial government employees in the provincial capital’s gym.

“It’s like prior restraint. We already know those things. Do we still have to be told? It’s threatening the media,” Jose Pavia, executive director of the Philippine Press Institute and editor of the Bulacan-based newspaper Mabuhay said.

“This, however, does not suppress the right for (sic) press freedom but to remind the government watchdogs to be accurate and truthful on (sic) their stories to inform and not delude the public with false accusations pertaining to government accusations (sic),” the public affairs office report added.

An employee of the provincial office, who refused to be named, said it is not the intention of dela Cruz to intimidate the press.

“Unless the situation calls for it, she will not file (libel) cases. But even though it is the right of everyone to file libel suits, the governor (will not file a suit unless) she thinks that her reputation is maligned,” the source said.

The report also said that the governor made the warning with the best interest of the province in mind. “The damage done by the fabricated articles would adversely affect the interest of various stakeholders who are depending and benefiting from the programs and services offered by the province,” the report said.

Case against suspected killers of journalist reopened

2007-01-25T23:32:00.000+08:00

A resolution by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on 16 January 2007 ordered the reopening of the murder case against the suspected killers of radio broadcaster Rolando Ureta, who was killed on 3 January 2001 in Aklan, a province south of Manila.

The defendants’ alibis were insufficient, said the DOJ in reversing the 6 December 2004 dismissal of the murder case against them. It directed the Aklan provincial prosecutor to file the appropriate charges against Amador Paz and Jessie Ticar.

“I’m very happy. For six years I have been praying for something to happen with the case. This is an answered prayer,” Emely Ureta, widow of the slain journalist, said

The murder charge against Paz and Ticar was filed by the Aklan Provincial Police office on 24 September 2004. Gerson Sonio, the lone witness to the killing, testified that he saw Paz driving a motorcycle in tandemn with Ticar, who shot Ureta three times.

Ureta was reporting and commenting on illegal gambling and illegal drugs in his community before he was killed, and had been receiving death threats as early as 2000.

Third Assistant Prosecutor Apolinar Barrios rejected the testimony of Sonio and dismissed the complaint on 6 December 2004 for “lack of probable cause”.

The witness’s father, Perlito Sonio, and his uncle, Diego Masangya, had filed separate affidavits claiming that Sonio was in Iloilo City, some 200 kilometers away from Aklan, on the day of the killing and could not have possibly witnessed it.

The prosecutor also said that the witness did not indicate his profession as a balut (fertilized duck eggs) vendor and his associations with Anthony Gerson, to whom he was said to have remitted money from the sold balut. These omissions, according to the prosecutor, tainted the credibility of Sonio’s testimony.

Emely filed a motion for reconsideration on 4 January 2005, containing the affidavits of additional witnesses supporting Sonio’s testimony. It was immediately denied on 10 February 2005.

The local police and Emely filed an appeal for the reversal of the complaint’s dismissal on 27 April 2005, alleging grave abuse of discretion by the investigating prosecutor.

They argued that the respondents’ alibis were not sufficient and upheld Sonio’s categorical identification of the suspects as well as his “positive” testimony over the counter claims of the elder Sonio and Masangya. They also said that inconsistencies regarding minor details not related to the commission of the crime did not affect the weight or the veracity of the witness’s claims.

“Weighed against the denials and alibis of respondents, said witness’ affirmative testimony is stronger than a negative one,” the DOJ resolution stated.

The DOJ also found no probable cause for Sonio to maliciously fabricate stories against the accused.

“The record is bereft of any showing that Sonio was prompted by ill-will in testifying against said respondents. Absent the most compelling reason, it is inconceivable why a witness would openly concoct a story that would send an innocent man to jail,” the DOJ resolution stated.

Paz and Ticar will now stand trial for the killing of Ureta.

ABS-CBN report on axed ABC-5 programs a case of speculative journalism?

2007-01-23T15:27:00.000+08:00

ABC-5 did not just cancel its public affairs programs Frontlines and Dokyu, but has in fact axed its entire public affairs programming, Alecks Pabico posted in Inside PCIJ last January 23. Contrary to an earlier ABS-CBN report on the issue, the reasons for the cancellation of the programs and the department "are more financial than political, with insiders pointing to ABC 5’s heavy monetary losses in recent years," Pabico wrote.

ABS-CBN's report, "Anti-Arroyo TV shows taken off air," had earlier reported that Frontlines and Dokyu have been axed because of their critical stories against the government. Apparently, Antonio “Tony Boy” Cojuangco, owner of Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC), decided to cancel the two shows to appease Malacañang. Cojuango was implicated in the failed military coup plot in February last year. ABS-CBN also added in the report that Newsbreak, which seed capital was given by Cojuangco, stopped publishing its print edition. Newsbreak however continues to do stories online.

"So is the issue one of politics or economics? Unfortunately, with nothing much to back it up, the ABS-CBN report could only have engaged in a reckless exercise in speculative journalism," Pabico wrote.

The Inside PCIJ post also discussed how public affairs programs in the country have eventually been "transformed into glamorous and glitzy productions.... in order to rate."

"And, as usual, it’s the Filipino televiewing public that ends up as losers," Pabico said in his post.

Read the full post here.

Did Arroyo order the closure of two ABC-5 shows and Newsbreak?

2007-01-19T20:24:00.000+08:00

Did the government order the closure of two critical public affairs shows on ABC-5 and the hard-hitting Newsbreak magazine?

TV Patrol World, the primetime newscast of ABS-CBN, reported yesterday that the two current affairs shows on ABC 5, Frontlines and Metro, were "taken off the air after the television network's owner was implicated in the attempted coup d'etat last year."

"The ABC 5 staff was surprised to learn that network boss Antonio 'Tonyboy' Cojuangco had ordered the cancellation of 'Dokyu' and 'Frontlines,' programs known for their sometimes hard-hitting comments against the administration," ABS-CBNNews.com reported. The report said that justice secretary Raul Gonzalez denied that the government had influenced Cojuangco's decision.

The shows' cancellation happened after the print edition of Newsbreak, an investigative magazine financed by Cojuangco, was also closed down. "Malacañang had condemned the magazine for its exposés against alleged government irregularities," added the ABS-CBNNews.com report.

The report also said that Newsbreak editor-in-chief Marites Vitug confirmed in a text message to ABS-CBN that "Cojuangco might have been forced to stop financing the magazine."

In her editor's note in the magazine's January 29 issue, Vitug said that they are temporarily stopping the print edition of Newsbreak, but they will continue doing investigative reports, which will be available online. "This is our second-to-the-last hard copy edition. Yes, what you’re holding in your hands, our 179th issue, will soon be part of history," Vitug wrote. "But we will continue our work online, the platform that is transforming journalism by opening the doors of our profession to citizens all over the world and, at the same time, forming tightly knit communities and audiences in cyberspace."

Vitug cited that market-related problems made them decide to stop printing Newsbreak for now. "It hasn’t been easy competing in the harsh marketplace where glossies dominate. One of the lessons that have left an indelible imprint on us is this: the applause of the market is hard to win," she wrote. Vitug, however, added that they still plan to revive the print edition of the magazine.

ABC-5 released an official statement today, which was posted in the blog of Jove Francisco, one of the network's most senior reporters and who was also involved in the axed show Frontlines. "The cancellation of certain shows is merely part of management’s overall business strategy to discontinue programs that are not achieving their ratings targets, a matter that should remain internal to the company," ABC-5 said in its official statement.

Read the full ABS-CBNNews.com report here. The full copy of Vitug's editor's note in Newsbreak's January 29 issue can be read here. Read ABC-5's official statement in Francisco's blog here.