MANILA, Philippines – ITINATWA ng Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) ang obserbasyon na nabanggit sa ulat ng US State Department na may “chilling effect” ang pagpaslang at pag-atake sa mga mamamahayag sa Pilipinas.
Sa isang kalatas, tinawag ni PTFoMS executive director Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez ang ulat na “a work of fiction” at pinabulaanan na mayroong “serious restrictions” sa freedom of expression sa bansa.
“This so-called ‘chilling effect’ is a work of fiction by certain quarters who have the habit of always seeing the glass half-empty and not half-full,” aniya pa rin.
Ayon sa PTFoMS, ang tatlong insidente ng media violence na kasama sa kamakailan lamang na report ng US State Department ay pawang “all deemed ‘solved’ with identification, arrest and filing of cases against the suspects.”
Para sa PTFoMS, ang ‘chilling effect’ bunsod ng pagpaslang at pag-atake sa mga mamamahayag, red-tagging, at political pressure ay isa lamang “a minority opinion among media practitioners.”
“Considering that majority of killed media professionals came from the broadcast sector, the number of radio stations should have remained flat or should have decreased if our broadcasters are afraid as the report suggests,” ang tinuran ni Gutierrez.
Aniya, lumalakas na ngayon ang broadcast industry kaakibat ang pagsusulong ng telecommunications at tulong ng pamahalaan para sa mga mamamahayag na nasa peligro o nasa ilalim ng pagbabanta.
Base sa 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices mula sa US State Department, patuloy na nahaharap ang mga mamamahayag sa “harassment, banta ng karahasan at dahas.”
Ang mga pag-atake ayon sa report ay mula sa individual politicians, government authorities, at makapangyarihang private persons na hindi sang-ayon sa kanilang ibinabalita.
“Physical attacks, including at least one killing, against journalists continued and several cases from previous years remained unresolved,” ayon sa report.
“Media watchdogs also claimed of government interference,” ayon pa rin sa report.
“News organizations generally were not subjected to official censorship, but journalists and media watchdogs alleged several instances of government interference,” ang nakasaad sa report.
“Media generally remained free, active, and able to voice criticism of the government, despite the chilling effect caused by killings of and attacks on journalists, red-tagging, and political and nongovernmental pressure,” dagdag pa nito.
Tinukoy din sa report ang patuloy na pagtutulak sa online news website na Rappler at broadcaster ABS-CBN sa gitna ng mga legal challenge.
“The online news website Rappler and broadcaster ABS-CBN continued to fight, with some success, legal challenges arising from allegedly spurious charges levied during the Duterte administration,” ayon sa report. Kris Jose
