Press Freedom Protection Archives | Page 36 of 76

FOI will be passed in the 16th Congress, says Poe

Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, is confident that the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill will be passed in the 16th Congress. During the Senate hearing last September 4, the first under the 16th Congress, Poe said that the bill is long...

Editor shot dead; 18th since 2010

A newspaper editor/publisher was shot dead on Sept. 4, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.

Two journalists convicted of libel

CMFR/Philippines – Two journalists were convicted for libel in the past few days, one in Cebu City on 29 August 2013 and another in Digos City, Davao province, on 3 September 2013. Both were ordered to pay fines totaling PHP2,212,000 (some USD50,000). Libel in the Philippines is a crime...

Group of municipal councilors bars journalists from covering election

CMFR/Philippines – An official barred journalists from covering the election of officers of a provincial league of municipal councilors in the town of Virac, province of Catanduanes, on 2 September 2013. Catanduanes province is some 500 kilometers south of Manila. Radyo ng Bayan-Virac station manager Arlene Bagadiong together with...

Radio commentator shot dead in southern Philippines

CMFR/Philippines – In the sixth case of its kind this year, two men riding tandem on a motorcycle shot dead a radio commentator in Iligan City on 29 August 2013. Iligan City in Mindanao Island is some 1,400 kilometers south of Manila. Radio commentator Fernando “Nanding” Solijon was shot...

Fugitive demands 40 million pesos in damages from reporters

CMFR/Philippines – A businesswoman turned fugitive for her alleged involvement in a multi-billion peso corruption scandal filed four separate libel complaints against a blogger, two reporters, two editors and a publisher, as well as a fashion designer, on 6 and 7 August 2013 in Taguig City, Manila. For each...

R2KRN: FOI advocates joining Luneta indignation on budget scam

CMFR is a member of the Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition (R2KRN)—a network of about 160 organizations and individuals from various social sectors and civil society groups, which have long been campaigning for the passage of a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition...

Two wanted for murder of columnists

CMFR/Philippines – The police have formally charged two suspects for the 30 July 2013 murder of two tabloid columnists in Quezon City, Manila. The suspects have yet to be arrested. The police have not concluded that the victims were killed for their work. But the family members of one...

Continuing threats against TV broadcaster turn personal (UPDATED)

CMFR/Philippines – The most recent threats sent on 9 August 2013 to a television broadcaster in Manila have gone personal. The threats are linked to a report she made on a tax evasion case filed by the Philippine government against a lawyer of the Ampatuan clan who reportedly bought...

Police officer attacks journalists covering protest

CMFR/Philippines – A police officer allegedly attacked a journalist from an online newspaper and his colleague, and damaged cameras and other equipment during the dispersal of protesters along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Manila, during President Benigno S. Aquino III’s fourth State of the Nation Address last 22 July...