Statements Archives | Page 4 of 11

A Step Backward in the Campaign to End Impunity

AS THE world observes International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2, the press community in the Philippines carves out a more extended period to recall the shame and scandal of the violence against journalists in the country. On November 23, the 8th anniversary...

CMFR’s Statement on the President’s Attack Against the Media: The Cheapest Form of Harassment and Intimidation

SPEAKING TO appointed government officials in local government on March 30, President Duterte once again assailed the press, singling out two leading news organizations, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN. His rant, however, was an attack against the institution and the country’s community of journalists. Being itself in the media,...

Year Seven After the Massacre: Still No Justice on Sixth Year of Trial

THE SEVENTH anniversary of the massacre of 58 civilians, including 32 journalists, in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, draws our community once again to gather together, move through the motions of protest, raise voices to plea for justice for the victims and their surviving families. Some of the orphaned children...

Pooled Editorial: The Prez and The Press

REGRETTABLY, the conversation between President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the news media has turned sharp and shrill. All but lost in the noise is the two parties’ common duty in law and tradition to serve and to inform the Filipino people on issues, events and policies that affect their...

Protecting Journalists, Protecting Democracy

CMFR TAKES exception to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s statement, made during his May 31st press conference in Davao City, that most of the journalists who have been killed in the Philippines for their work were slain because they’re corrupt. While corruption is undoubtedly a continuing problem in the press...

A Regressive Step

THE CENTER FOR MEDIA FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY (CMFR) recognizes the sovereign voice of the people in the election of Rodrigo Duterte. He campaigned on an anti-crime platform, vowing to go after drug lords and syndicates, but never made clear how exactly he would achieve this within the self-imposed...

In the Philippines: Three Journalists Were Killed for Their Work in 2015

THE CENTER for Media Freedom and Responsibility takes exception to the statement in the 2015 Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) report on the killing of journalists worldwide that no journalists in the Philippines were killed for a work-related reason last year.

Ending the Killing of Journalists: State Action Urgently Needed

Statement of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists The United Nations declared November 2 as International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. However, press freedom advocates in the Philippines focus on November 23 to commemorate the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre in which 58 men and women including 32 journalists...

STATEMENT: Toward Resolving the Ortega Case

The deportation to the Philippines and subsequent arrest of the alleged masterminds in the 2011 killing of broadcaster and environmental advocate Gerardo Ortega have awakened hopes that the suspected brains behind the killing of a journalist would be prosecuted. If government acts promptly, the recent arrest of...

Assuring journalists’ safety and independence

The continuing killing of journalists and media workers is still the main threat to media freedom and the autonomy of journalists in the Philippines.