A municipal police station called on the public to “mass report” the social media pages of alternative media outfit Southern Tagalog Exposure (STEx) and environmental organization Peoples Rising for Climate Justice (PRCJ).
For STEx and PRCJ’s reports of harassment and intimidation of participants in the ongoing international solidarity mission on climate injustice and militarism, the Abra de Ilog Municipal Police Station (MPS) in its own Facebook page urged the public to have their accounts punished by Meta.
The MPS alleged the groups only wanted to slander the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines as they try to maintain peace and order in the said municipality.
STEx however quickly called the police’s mass-reporting campaign “a clear attempt to censor the truth in the struggle of the Mangyan-Iraya for their land and rights in Sitio Malatabako.”
“It is only evident through this desperate act of the PNP that they are the one causing distress and terror in the community,” the media group said in a statement on Tuesday.
STEx earlier posted photos of the police and the military arriving at the venue of the “Grounding Solidarity: A Learning and Solidarity Mission to Communities Affected by Climate Injustice and Militarism” in Abra de Ilog bearing assault rifles.
The outfit reported that children in the venue stopped playing and were seen running away from the commotion caused by the PNP and AFP’s arrival.
“We have reported instances in which surveillance drones and unidentified men were seen following community members and delegates,” STEx added. The Abra de Ilog MPS earlier said their presence in the same venue was an awareness-giving activity against “deceptive methods of Leftist groups to exploit the community.”
STEx however said the MPS is lying: “The photos clearly show that state forces are fully armed with guns, sowing fear in the communities,” it said.
The outfit said it vehemently condemns the attack on STEx as well as attempts by the Abra de Ilog PNP to censor the truth.
WHAT WENT BEFORE:
1. State agents intensify harassment of climate justice mission
2. Surveillance, harassment hound int’l solidarity mission on 3rd day
3. International environment mission faces harassment from NTF-ELCAC, LGUs
Meanwhile, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) said it will look into the report of police harassment of STEx in coordination with the PNP.
PTFoMS executive director Undersecretary Jose Torres told Kodao the Abra de Ilog MPS asserted that “its personnel were performing their duties in accordance with the law.”
“The Task Force emphasizes that press freedom is a constitutionally guaranteed right that must be upheld at all times,” Torres said.
“PTFoMS calls on all concerned sectors—including law enforcement agencies, the media community, and local stakeholders—to cooperate fully in clarifying the incident and ensuring that journalists are able to carry out their work freely, safely, and without intimidation,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
