INTERNATIONAL MEDIA watchdog, Reporters without Borders or RSF, has included President Rodrigo Duterte in its 2021 “Press freedom predators” who crack down massively on press freedom.
RSF said some of these “predators of press freedom” have been operating for more than two decades while others have just joined the blacklist, which for the first time includes two women and a European predator.
Nearly half of the predators are making their first appearance on the 2021 list, which RSF is publishing five years after the last one, from 2016. All are heads of state or government who trample on press freedom by creating a censorship apparatus, jailing journalists arbitrarily or inciting violence against them, when they do not have blood on their hands because they have directly or indirectly pushed for journalists to be murdered.
Nineteen of these predators rule countries that are colored red on the RSF’s press freedom map, meaning their situation is classified as “bad” for journalism, and 16 rule countries colored black, meaning the situation is “very bad.” More than a third of these tyrants come from the Asia-Pacific region.
“There are now 37 leaders from around the world in RSF’s predators of press freedom gallery and no one could say this list is exhaustive. Each of these predators has their own style.”
“Some impose a reign of
terror by issuing irrational and paranoid orders. Others adopt a carefully
constructed strategy based on draconian laws. A major challenge now is for
these predators to pay the highest possible price for their oppressive
behaviour. We must not let their methods become the new normal,” said RSF
secretary-general Christophe Deloire. “
RSF
said Duterte has been a predator since taking office in 2016 with the
Philippines ranking poorly, placing it 138th of the 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
“After
being elected mayor of the southern city of Davao in 1988, Rodrigo Duterte used
the pretext of fighting crime to develop a style of governing that showed
little respect for the rule of law. The local media quickly became collateral
victims of his brutal methods, which tolerate no criticism or even nuanced
coverage of his policies.”
“His
openly populist rhetoric, which included having himself nicknamed the ‘punisher,’
helped get him elected president in 2016. His presidency has exposed the
weakness of the country’s democratic system. The executive has enormous power
centered on the president. Judges who don’t toe the line are pushed aside.
Congress tamely endorses all the president’s decisions. Backed by most of the
private sector, Duterte easily imposes his line on media outlets owned by
businessmen that support him. Independent media outlets have assumed the role
of opposition, with all the risks that this entails,” RSF said.
It
added that there is collusion at all levels within the state apparatus – “Duterte
has an arsenal that he can use to wage ‘total war’ against journalists, an
arsenal that includes spurious charges of defamation, tax evasion or violation
of capital legislation; rescinding broadcast licences; getting accomplices to
buy up media outlets and bring their journalists into line; and using an army
of trolls to subject journalists to online harassment.”
A handful of media outlets have tried to cover Duterte’s authoritarian excesses. In March 2017, the irascible president warned them: “I'm not threatening them but someday their karma will catch up with them.” They included the country’s leading newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It was bought up a year later and its journalists were brought to heel.
The next target was the country’s leading radio and TV network, ABS-CBN. In July 2020, the
ever-compliant congress sealed its fate by refusing to renew its franchise. He
is now targeting the last bastion of press freedom – the Rappler news website and its
CEO, Maria Ressa. Hounded by lawsuits and prosecution brought by Duterte’s
allies, she is facing the possibility of sentences totalling around 100 years
in prison.
RSF even quoted Duterte as saying at
his June 30, 2016 inauguration: “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from
assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch.”
For each of the
predators, RSF said it has compiled a file identifying their “predatory
method,” how they censor and persecute journalists, and their “favourite
targets” – the kinds of journalists and media outlets they go after. The file,
it added, also includes quotations from speeches or interviews in which they
“justify” their predatory behaviour, and their country’s ranking in the World
Press Freedom Index.
The report can be accessed
from the RSF website – rsf.org.
Baseless
Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque strongly denied RSF’s allegation,
saying there is no basis to claim that the president tramples on press freedom.
“Absolutely bereft of merit. Kung
titingnan ninyo po iyong findings ng ICC prosecutor, lahat po ng kinu-quote
niya eh media na critical sa gobyerno so that proves po that freedom of the
press is alive and well in the Philippines. Wala po ni isang kasong libelong
sinampa ang Presidente, wala pong kahit sinong mamamahayag na napakulong ang Presidente,”
Roque said.
“That’s part and parcel of course of the media
group’s advocacy to promote freer press. Pero wala po talagang basehan na media predator ang ating Presidente,” he added, insisting Duterte
had no hand in ABS-CBN’s failure to secure a new legislative franchise, despite
his repeated verbal attacks on the television network.
And as for Rappler, Roque said it was the Securities and Exchange Commission which decided to revoke the certificate of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation for violating the 1987 Constitution and foreign equity restrictions in mass media. (RSF, Manila Bulletin, GMA, ABS-CBN, Mindanao Examiner)
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