Attacks and threats against the media

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...

Funeral wreaths sent to ABS-CBN station in CDO

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Unidentified persons sent three funeral wreaths to the ABS-CBN station in Cagayan de Oro on 25 July 2020 as different groups in the city held a protest against the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise. Cagayan de Oro is 1,385 kilometers south of Manila. On May 6, the National...

NTC orders shutdown of ABS-CBN’s Sky Direct, TV Plus channels

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered Sky Cable Corporation’s cable satellite dish service, Sky Direct; and ABS-CBN TV Plus digital broadcast channels, to stop operations on 30 June 2020. Sky Cable Corporation is an affiliate of the ABS-CBN Corporation. The NTC previously ordered the shutdown of ABS-CBN...

Palace Spokesperson berates reporter during live broadcast

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque berated a reporter during a televised media briefing for her supposedly misleading report on his statement on mass testing as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. During a May 19 press briefing, Roque accused CNN reporter Triciah Terada of failing to report accurately...

Radio station in Nueva Ecija harassed by local government

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — Radyo Natin Guimba (RNG) in Nueva Ecija and its reporters have been receiving threats and other forms of harassment from the local government according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Nueva Ecija is 131 kilometers south of Manila. In a statement, NUJP said...

Rappler reporter removed from NCRPO messaging group

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — A Rappler reporter was removed from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) messaging group after the online news organization published the story on NCRPPO chief Major General Debold Sinas’ birthday celebration inside Camp Bagong Diwa on May 8 which violated quarantine protocols. NCRPO’s public information officer...

Press Freedom Protection