Philippine press freedom ranking falls again

CMFR/Philippines – The Philippine ranking in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index fell to 147 from 140 last year.

The World Press Freedom Index is an annual report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a freedom of expression and information advocacy organization based in France.

RSF annually ranks 179 countries according to the “degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations and netizens enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.” ()

As of press time, RSF had not cited its reasons why the Philippine ranking fell this year, but in its 2011/2012 index, RSF said in the country’s profile that “The (Philippine) government … has not yet responded effectively to the media’s problems. Threats and violence against local radio station hosts (including physical attacks and murders) and the culture of impunity represent the biggest obstacles to media freedom.”

There were four journalist work-related killings in 2012 and one this January 2013. A total of 12 journalists have been killed since President Benigno Aquino III took office in 2010. Eleven worked in radio.

Aside from the killings,  the slow progress of  the cases of those accused of killing journalists in the Philippines and legislative attacks on freedom of information, such as the non-passage of a freedom of information bill in contrast to the passage of an anti-cybercrime law that criminalizes libel on the internet, are fueling the culture of impunity in the country.

In 2010, the Philippines lost 34 places in the index, from 122^nd in 2009 to 156^th, when 32 journalists were massacred in a single election-related incident in the southern province of Maguindanao.

###