Reconstructing the Philippines’ Wrecked Democratic Pillars
Even if they try to keep us silent, the echoing voices of the citizenry will prevail. The power of the freeing information will scatter, no matter how hushed up we get to be.
Those loudest growling voices of the dissenters have been silenced in the hands of this regime. Triggered by the media’s critical reporting, President Rodrigo Duterte whacked some journalists by labelling them as “basura”, “son of a bitch”, and “bullshit”. He even darkened the country’s torch with his ire by hitting the Filipino journalists and media companies. And now with ablaze anger, the people of the media started fighting back.
The President's evident attack towards the media started when he got appointed as the president and when the media started exposing the fiascos of his war on drugs. But it was since the onset of the pandemic that the attacks deteriorated, thus bringing sufferings to the media. May 5, 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease and desist order against the broadcast giant ABS-CBN after their congressional franchise expired. With this decree, the ABS-CBN was illegally coerced to go off-air. This issue is not enclosed with legal matters but clearly an issue of press freedom because the president repeatedly threatened the ABS-CBN. And just then, the House committee rejected ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal on July 10, 2020, which killed the media company. Such a repressive act mirrors the government’s hatred towards its critics. Suppression has become one of the new normal.
Likewise, Rappler Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was convicted of cyber libel. This was another blow to press freedom after the ABS-CBN shutdown. The Manila Regional Trial Court found Ressa and his former research-writer Rey Santos Jr. guilty of libel to a businessman on June 15, 2020. A May 2012 article covers Ressa’s case. The two were condemned under the Cybercrime Prevention Act; however, the act did not exist when the article was published. Concurrently, Ressa and Rappler are already facing a pile of government investigations. These acts are arguably an attempt to silence Ressa from being a bold critic of Duterte.
Furthermore, the most recent event in the media community is the red-tagging and persecution of journalist Lady Ann Salem. Salem was arrested in her home last December 10, 2020, the same day as the Human Rights Day celebration. And once again, this is one of the many acts of the regime to hush the opposition.
As a journalist myself, this persistent silencing makes our job more harrowing. To impart the truth has never been this difficult knowing that we could easily be tagged as terrorists under the Anti-Terrorism Law. Trembling as we scribble every story, thinking that handcuffs and guns are waiting for us if we go outside the line. Duterte as a symbol of disaster, a fascist, and a dictator will never acknowledge criticism because, for him, the media is nothing but a hindrance to his goal of reigning over the country. For a tyrannical government that knows no free press, silencing is much important than exposing the folded truths.
The current regime’s attack on the media and the press led to the Philippines’ declining rank in the World Press Freedom Index. According to the report, the Philippines ranked 136th out of 180 countries. This low ranking boils down to the journalists' killings, incalculable cyber-attacks on the alternative news website, intimidations, and harassment on the media.
As the world grapples with the horrid pandemic, it is undoubtedly that the press possesses a greater weight of importance and relevance. The media is tasked to bridge people to factual pieces of information and clear off the blur that misinformation brings. When people demand accountability and competency to the national office in the crisis's height, the press grasps the heavier responsibility to be keen and critical observant.
People’s call for #MediaFightBack is a repercussion of a clamor to protect the press and the media from the government's strikes. This also engulfs the reminder to keep voicing out everyone’s dissent fearlessly. A fight that aims the media to rise from the depths of oppression. A fight of the strongest voices against the clowns at the top of the triangular jail. Even if they try to keep us silent, the echoing voices of the citizenry will prevail. The power of the freeing information will scatter, no matter how hushed up we get to be.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Carl Angelo Y. Cagatin is a bookworm, a campus journalist, and a writer of essays and poems. To exercise his skills in writing, he is joining in various writing contests that sometimes bring him to the peak of triumph. Carl uses his pen as his voice to lose the fetters manacling us. The majority of his poems are written in Filipino, while his articles are in English. Aside from writing, he also loves to read English novels and classical Filipino books. Right now, he enjoys writing opinionated pieces.
