Press Freedom Protection Archives | Page 71 of 76

Police tries to arrest reporter

AN ARREST warrant for a business reporter, one of the 43 journalists sued by the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Jose Miguel Arroyo, was served by at least six policemen right inside the Malacañang Palace compound last 13 November. Five Manila Police District policemen entered the press working...

Newspaper columnist receives death threat

A newspaper columnist who has been charged with libel by the husband of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo received a death threat through the e-mail on 12 November. Ellen Tordesillas, columnist and chief of reporters of the daily newspaper Malaya (Free), found the threatening message on her e-mail at around...

Seeking Justice for Journalists

By Rachel E. Khan and Nathan Lee In the past year, continued efforts by local and international media organizations had brought about significant developments in pursuing justice for the slain journalists. Just last Oct. 6, three of Marlene Esperat’s killers were sentenced to reclusion perpetua by a Cebu City...

Public Apathy Toward Repression

Media’s bigger problem Public Apathy Toward Repression By Don Gil K. Carreon Then Presidential Proclamation 1017 was declared, placing the country under a state of emergency, there was little public outcry. Even when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the government was planning to issue guidelines on how media should...

A Wanton Disregard for Press Freedom

A Wanton Disregard for Press Freedom (The following statement was drafted by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in response to the libel cases filed by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. It was signed by 648 journalists (as of Oct. 11) and 41 local and international groups such...

Provincial council summons newspaper editors for publishing a poem

PROVINCIAL council officials summoned the editors of Bandillo ng Palawan, an environment newsweekly, for the publication of a poem critical of the provincial government. An Oct. 4 letter by the provincial council addressed to Bandillo’s editorial board summoned the newspaper for “matters relative to the poem entitled ...

Censoring Documentaries

TV current affairs programs under the glare of the MTRCB Censoring Documentaries By Nathan Lee Ten years ago, censorship was a problem that bedeviled films. Today, censorship is still a problem and its exercise has come to include television documentaries. In the past few months, four current affairs programs...

CMFR Philippines Libel Update: Presidential spouse files libel vs. columnist

A well-known hard-hitting columnist and broadcaster was sued for libel by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband for the former’s alleged defamatory articles linking the first gentleman to smuggling activities. In his formal complaint filed last 06 September, Jose Miguel Arroyo said that columnist and popular hard-hitting television broadcaster Ramon Tulfo...

Government links communist group with media

A government official recently warned against possible communist infiltration of the country’s newsrooms. During a state-sponsored forum last 21 August, national security adviser Norberto Gonzales said that there “are big possibilities in the media that there are some practitioners being courted by enemies of the state and probably successfully.”...

Movie/TV board suspends documentary

For airing an episode showing individuals using drugs, a documentary program of a popular network was recently suspended by the country’s movie and television review board. In its memorandum dated last 15 August, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) suspended the ABS-CBN Network’s documentary program The...