Press Freedom Protection Archives | Page 59 of 76

RE The Aquino administration proposals for an FOI Bill

The Presidential Communications Group did not directly consult the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) on the administration’s proposals for a Freedom of Information (FOI) bill. However, CMFR is a member of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition (R2KRN), a network of about 150 organizations and individuals...

The Long Road to Justice

By Mark Merueñas AS SOON as you enter the high-walled compound of the Quezon City Jail Annex in Taguig City where the Ampatuan multiple murder case is being heard, everyone becomes equal—well, almost. It doesn’t matter if you’re the justice secretary, the high-profile lawyer that defended a former president...

Ethics, the Culture of Impunity, and Democracy by Luis V. Teodoro

DELIVERED DURING THE NUJP FORUM COMMEMORATING WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY, MAY 3, 2011 LET ME start by quoting CMFR’s statement which we issued in commemoration of this year’s World Press Freedom Day: “The Philippine media situation has resisted change despite the change of administration in July 2010,” which in...

PCIJ reports on the access to information under the Aquino administration

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) released 1 May 2011 an audit of how government agencies dealt with requests for information under the Benigno Aquino III administration. PCIJ asked 27 government agencies–including the Offices of the President and Vice President, the Office of the Ombudsman, and both houses...

Slain journalist’s widow faces contempt charges

A widow of an Ampatuan (Maguindanao) massacre victim and a director of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) are facing possible contempt charges for publicly criticizing Court of Appeals (CA) justices before whom a petition connected to the Ampatuan multiple murder case is pending. The CA...

Libel charges against publisher and columnist dismissed

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A local court in Metro Manila dismissed a libel case against a columnist and the publisher of a national daily last 31 March 2011. The order was released last 15 April 2011. Libel, a criminal offense in the Philippines, has often been used to harass journalists and...

Journalists allege manhandling by US envoy’s escorts and military hospital guards

CMFR/Philippines – Journalists covering the turnover of donations by the US Embassy to a military hospital in Quezon City said they were manhandled by the envoy’s escorts and by hospital guards. According to a March 30 report by InterAksyon, the journalists were approaching Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. for an...

Another broadcaster arrested for libel (UPDATED)

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Another broadcaster facing libel charges was arrested last 18 April 2011 in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. Lanao del Norte is a province approximately 792 kilometers south of Manila. Police arrested at around 11 a.m. (local time) broadcaster Albert Loyola of radio station dxRJ on the strength...

JOSE L. PAVIA, 72

Jose L. Pavia, one of the nation’s most respected journalists, died this morning (18 April) in the hospital where he had been confined following a series of surgeries for a brain tumor and the discovery that he had lung cancer. He was 72. He is survived by...

P-Noy urged to stop killings

SEVERAL MEDIA, media advocacy organizations and journalism professors and students led by the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) are urging President Benigno Aquino III to take concrete steps to stop human rights violations and the continuing killing and harassment of journalists and political activists. The Manila newspaper BusinessWorld,...