Attacks and threats against the media

NorDis Reporter harassed by Police, made to delete photos

CMFR/PHILIPPINES -- Northern Dispatch Reporter and his companions from Baguio City who were supposed to attend the unveiling of the Anti-Chico Dam Struggle Heroes Monument were harassed by Tinglayan Municipal Police on Saturday, April 24 in Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga.

Chinese military ships harass vessel with journo in Philippine waters

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — A Filipino civilian vessel with ABS-CBN reporter Chiara Zambrano on board was harassed by Chinese coast guard and two missile attack ships just 90 nautical miles from Palawan province on Thursday, April 8. Zambrano and her news team were in the West Philippine Sea to report on...

Inquirer justice reporter red-tagged by NTF-ELCAC spox

Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., the spokesman for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), red-tagged INQUIRER.net’s justice beat reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas on his Facebook page last 3 February 2021 for the latter’s report on the petition of jailed Aetas before the Supreme Court.

Broadcaster-columnist shot dead in Pangasinan four years after surviving slay attempt

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Unidentified men aboard a motorcycle shot and killed a columnist and radio commentator in Villasis, Pangasinan on 10 November 2020. The killing happened four years after the journalist survived a slay attempt on 8 November 2016. Pangasinan is 210 kilometers north of Manila. According to the police,...

ABS-CBN News YouTube channels back online hours after shutdown

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — ABS-CBN News and ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel) YouTube channels are back online a few hours after they were suspended by YouTube. The video streaming platform suspended the operations of both channels on 3 November 2020 after it detected suspicious activities from both accounts. ABS-CBN has been live...

Broadcaster arrested while hosting program in Camarines Norte

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — A radio broadcaster was arrested on September 15 while hosting his radio program in Daet City, Camarines Norte. Daet City is 529 km south of Manila. Agents of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) served an arrest order issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Winston...

Online news commentator shot dead in Sorsogon

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — Two men on a motorcycle shot dead an online news commentator in Sorsogon City on 14 September 2020. Sorsogon is 529 kilometers south of Manila. Jobert “Polpog” Bercasio of Balangibog Online News TV was himself on his motorcycle along Brgy. Cabid-an in Sorsogon when the suspects shot...

Disbarred lawyer threatens editor in Iloilo City

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A former Iloilo City councilor and disbarred lawyer threatened to “beat up” an editor over a news post about the former’s disbarment. Iloilo City is 655 kilometers south of Manila. Plaridel Nava sent a Facebook message to Daily Guardian editor Francis Allan Angelo threatening to beat him...

PTFoMS tags media attack as “fake news”

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Presidential Task Force for Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Joel Sy Egco in a Facebook post published on 28 July 2020 took a swipe at the media organizations that carried the news about the seizure of more than a thousand copies of Pinoy Weekly magazine in a...

Police confiscate copies of alternative magazine in Bulacan

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Police confiscated issues of Pinoy Weekly magazine during a raid in Pandi Bulacan on 26 July 2020 claiming that the publication is illegal and carries anti-government propaganda. Bulacan is 43 kilometers north of Manila. According to Pinoy Weekly, members of the Pandi police headed by PCPT Jun...

Press Freedom Protection