Student journalist harassed in Nueva Ecija

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — A student journalist was forced by barangay officials in Nueva Ecija on 6 April 2020 to publicly apologize after a heated exchange with his former teachers in Facebook over the government’s poor response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nueva Ecija is 140 kilometers north of Manila.

Joshua Molo, editor-in-chief of the publication University of the East (UE) Dawn, was summoned by barangay officials of San Fernando Sur in Cabiao Nueva Ecija and was asked to apologize after some of his teachers reported the incident. Molo was accused of online libel for his responses to his teachers’ comments on his post.

According to the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Molo was also asked to sign a waiver about not posting anything critical of the government which he declined. The student editor was later forced by the barangay officials to film his apology.

The barangay officials also threatened Molo with police arrest if he continues posting critical views on the Duterte administration.

On April 8, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that Molo did not violate anything when he expressed his personal opinion on the response of the government against Covid-19. Malaya added, “the DILG supports the right of Filipinos to free expression, that’s a fundamental human right that is protected by the Constitution.”

During the government’s lockdown, the cybercrime law has been used by authorities to confront critical social media posts against the local and national government. 

On March 27, a teacher in General Santos City was arrested for supposedly inciting to sedition without a warrant, after some local officials reported her “provoking” Facebook post. Her son was also arrested for disobedience to authority after he prevented the arrest. General Santos City is 1002 kilometers south of Manila.

The teacher, Juliet Espinosa, using a different name in Facebook, expressed in a post her dismay on the slow relief operations and asked people who were hungry to raid a local gym where the government supposedly stock the aid.

The police said that Espinosa was arrested even without a warrant because the post was still on Facebook and will count as a continuing crime. On March 28, two journalists faced the possibility of two months’ imprisonment and a fine of up to PHP1 million pesos for supposedly posting “fake news” in social media. Seventeen others were also summoned on similar allegations. (See Alert: “2 journalists, 17 others face charges for alleged coronavirus ‘fake news’”)