It is fascinating to think how societies can change so much as an adaptive response to a pandemic. Although it is also as terrifying to see its rippling effects experienced in many forms. The media as a microcosm of society, of course, did not able to dodge these hindrances in their reportage. Most people might not see the struggle the media and the press face, for it is “business as usual” in the daily coverage of news but being a journalism student makes it difficult to ignore the implicit obstacles they must get through just to inform and instill the relevant stories the public needs to hear—fulfilling their social responsibility amidst the health crisis.
Press freedom in theory manifests as the cornerstone of democracy. Allowing journalists to report and interpret issues and events derived from professional and ethical standards, and allowing media organizations to without any government intervention; possessing editorial independence and self-regulation. Nevertheless, the present situation of the media industry is not exactly like this.
An oppressive environment at its subtlety still consistently haunts journalists and members of the media.
The chilling effect brought about by the aftermath of ABS-CBN shutdown made it a challenge for the rest of the media to be ‘critical’ in their methodologies of reportage. The Duterte administration has long been eyeing to take down the station even before the cease-and-desist order released on May 5, 2020, by National Telecommunications Commission (NTC); as the president has been vocal through his conferences saying tirades towards the network as ‘biased’ in their reporting.
Journalist individuals were put to test by this existing tyranny. The threat of weaponization of the law, apparent in the case of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa along with her former subordinate, a freelance online journalist, Rey Santos Jr., were still declared guilty of a cyber libel case in which Ressa denounced as “bogus,” and “baseless.” According to an interview of Ressa with The World, she said that “[The] weaponization of the law—this is [a] tougher environment to work in than a war zone because you don’t know where the attacks are coming from.” This is a mere blatant attempt of the oppressive system to silence the media.
Assaults on journalists especially those in the provinces are also evident. Media killings seem to be the highest form of censorship. Per Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, there were an accumulated 18 work-related killings of journalists under the Duterte administration since 2016. Three (3) of the cases occurred in 2020, including Virgilio Maganes, a journalist who was shot six times right outside of his home by two unidentified gunmen. Killings like this do not only happen in the scene of journalism but to common citizens as well. Some of the cases even involved the police as the doer of the killings themselves.
Along with these attacks is the occurrence of red-tagging in the middle of a calamity (after the devastation of Typhoon Ulysess) in the form of a presidential communications undersecretary Lorraine Badoy when she stated baseless claims alleging CNN Philippines drawing sympathy towards a particular progressive group.
The doubtful timing of passing the Anti-Terror Bill into law has enabled swift red-tagging to different personalities, organizations, and even students and educators implying presumptuous claims to refer to them as terrorists. It manifested when Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. couldn’t help his thirst to red-tag the ‘community pantry’ initiator, Ana Patricia Non. The emergence of community pantries was a pivotal movement supposed to fill the gaps of the government’s shortcomings, however, the armed forces were already shivering on their high horses as soon as they heard about that simple act of kindness. Such allegations must come with a solid basis and pieces of evidence; as the burden of proof always lies on the accuser.
Red-tagging does not only damage an individual’s reputation but also damages the credibility of the journalists and the media members as the ones who impart news and information.
“To suppress the right to information is to strangle freedom of expression, ultimately to kill it.”
To me, it seems like this health crisis only served as an opportunity for the government to take advantage of the broken justice system enabling a continuum of corruption and selfish schemes. Major violators of the quarantine protocols a.k.a. Koko Pimentel, Mocha Uson, Debold Sinas were not held accountable but those violators from the marginalized sector were deliberately arrested, jailed, and ripped off their basic human rights, some of them were killed, even right in front of a child.
At times like this where the goal should be eradicating the virus, the government chose to prioritize other things that do not have any significance on pandemic response. Like how the Manila Bay sands can improve my mental health during a health crisis and complicated academic undertakings.
“Stop the killings,” as they shout on the streets or on social media. Killings may come in many forms; shouldn’t we wait until the moment they kill our ‘freedom’? The relentless attacks on media and journalism only sparked the broad movement to defend press freedom. Now, as we commemorate World Press Freedom Day, we face a challenge for a broader unity in upholding our freedom, as well as to end tyranny and to end impunity.
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