Press Freedom Protection Archives - CMFR

State agents harass media workers who refused to sign as witnesses in drug op

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Reporters covering the aftermath of an anti-illegal drugs operation in Pasay City, Metro Manila were harassed by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on March 16. Personnel of the NBI’s Task Force on Anti-Illegal Drugs were reportedly attempting to coerce media workers to sign as...

Court acquits Rappler’s Maria Ressa of tax evasion

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on 18 January 2023 cleared Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa of all four tax evasion charges filed against her and her news organization.

QC court convicts Baguio-based journo of cyber libel

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A Quezon City court convicted Baguio-based journalist and Rappler correspondent Frank Cimatu of cyber libel on December 13 over a 2017 Facebook post that the court said accused then Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol of corruption.

PH Impunity and Government’s Denial: Unnecessary response to the killing of journalists and other HRVs

Impunity persists because it is a culture rooted in conditions that have not been addressed. Impunity has revealed that the laws and the conduct of government are no longer based on justice and its related principles of truth.

Editor red-tagged by SMNI propagandists

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Ronalyn Olea, managing editor of Bulatlat, was red-tagged and called an “operatibong internet operator” for the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP) in SMNI’s Laban Kasama ang Bayan. Olea is also the Secretary-General of the National Union...

Media barred from coverage in Negros Occidental

CMFR/ PHILIPPINES – Journalists were denied entry to an evacuation center in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on 13 October 2022. The media were there to cover the situation of residents displaced by the ongoing encounter between the Philippine Army and the New People’s Army (NPA).

Two journalists receive online threats

CMFR/Philippines — TV5 broadcasters Ed Lingao and Lourd de Veyra received death threats online on 4 October 2022, a day after the murder of broadcaster Percy Lapid in Las Piñas.

Broadcaster mauled outside radio station in Iloilo City

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Four men in hoods and facemasks beat and injured a broadcaster outside a radio station in La Paz, Iloilo City on 8 October 2022. Iloilo City is 655 kilometers south of Manila.

Radio commentator shot dead in Las Piñas

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — Two unidentified men shot and killed a veteran radio commentator on 3 October 2022 in Las Piñas, Metro Manila.

Baguio journo red-tagged in online post

CMFR/PHILIPPINES - Sherwin De Vera, managing editor of Northern Dispatch, was red-tagged in a Facebook post on August 12. FB user Allen Dondon uploaded photos of De Vera with former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary, Judy Taguiwalo and former Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate, with a...