Journalists barred from covering voting proceedings

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Several community journalists were reportedly barred from voting and accessing voting precincts for media coverage according to an alternative media organization. 

A statement released by Altermidya on May 13 declared that one of their community journalists was prohibited from covering the voting proceedings in Bansud Central School in Oriental Mindoro during the May 12 polls, despite having proof of media accreditation from Comelec. 

Altermidya’s statement said that media coverage of a machine malfunction incident was restricted by local election officials and journalists without local credentials or Comelec accreditation were restrained. Local polling authorities insisted that only journalists on an approved internal list could report from within the precincts.

Altermidya asserts that this incident reflects a bigger pattern of media restrictions during election coverage, with similar cases reported by PinoyWeekly in various localities such as Dasmariñas, Cavite, Bulacan, Manila, and Tondo. 

In Dasmariñas, for instance, reporters were initially denied access to a polling center and were only permitted to enter after intervention by a Comelec official. 

Altermidya’s statement described such arbitrary and selective enforcement of rules for media access as “ a concerning violation of press freedom, especially in the context of reports of grave election anomalies, fraud, harassment, and election violence. . .”