Media groups to SOJ Remulla: Act to free Frenchie Mae, 2 other rights defenders

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On the fourth anniversary of the Tacloban City raids, which resulted in the arrest of four human rights advocates and community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, collectively dubbed as the ‘Tacloban 5,’ media groups led by Altermidya Network sent a letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to call for Cumpio’s immediate release from detention, along with human rights advocates Alexander Abinguna and Mariel Domequil.

The letter, signed by Altermidya Network, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines comes nearly a week after the official visit of Ms. Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on the freedom of expression and opinion. During her ten-day visit, Ms. Khan visited Cumpio, Abinguna, and Domequil in Tacloban City Jail.

“As justice delayed is justice denied, I urge relevant authorities to either review the cases and dismiss the charges, or at a minimum expedite the trials with full due process,” Ms. Khan said during her exit statement last February 3.

In the letter, the media groups emphasized their “profound concern” over the prolonged detention of Cumpio, Abinguna, and Domequil on charges related to illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and terrorism financing, highlighting the need for a “comprehensive review” of their cases with the aim of their prompt dismissal.

The letter to Justice Sec. Remulla also outlined three key requests, including the impartial and thorough investigation of the weaponization of laws against journalists and critics, the promotion of press freedom, and a call on the Department of Justice to advocate for the repeal of “repressive laws,” notably the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.”

The letter also noted that based on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2023 Prison Census, Frenchie Mae is currently the only journalist imprisoned in the Philippines.

“The prolonged detention of Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguna, coupled with the broader issues of law weaponization and attacks on press freedom, highlight the need for immediate and decisive action from the DOJ. The DOJ can demonstrate the Philippines’ genuine commitment to upholding human rights and freedom of expression by addressing these concerns,” the groups said in their letter to Sec. Remulla.#

‘Ring for justice’: Media groups troop to DOJ to call for release of detained community journalist

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MANILA – Bearing handbells, media groups led by Altermidya Network trooped to the Department of Justice in Manila on Tuesday, January 23, to call for the immediate release of detained community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio.

The protest was in time for Frenchie Mae’s 25th birthday and the start of the official visit to the Philippines of UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan.

The bells draw inspiration from the radio program that Frenchie Mae used to host titled “Lingganay Han Kamatuoran” (Bells of Truth in Waray).

“These bells signify the unwavering spirit of journalists and their commitment to truth in the face of increasing repression,” said Avon Ang, Altermidya Network national coordinator.

“As we mark four years since Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s arrest this February, we ring these bells not only for her but for every journalist who has been persecuted for reporting the truth,” Ang stressed.

Altermidya expressed optimism that the group as well as other media will be heard by UNSR Khan during her visit to the country, where she will investigate allegations of attacks against the freedom of opinion and expression in the Philippines.

The network is among the various organizations that have submitted reports on the precarious situation of journalists in the Philippines. Altermidya highlighted in its report the continued detention of Frenchie Mae, the incessant red-tagging attacks against community journalists, and the website blocking of alternative media outfits.

“We refuse to be silenced in the face of intimidation and injustice. Today, we ring our bells to call for an end to the weaponization of the law against journalists and for the establishment of a safe environment where the press can operate without fear,” she ended. #

On USec. Paul Gutierrez’s red-tagging of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio

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AlterMidya, January 17, 2024

Altermidya takes strong exception to Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez’s accusation and red-tagging of our member, Ms. Frenchie Mae Cumpio.  

In his January 4 “Paul’s Alarm” column on JournalnewsOnline, the Presidential Task Force On Media Security (PTFOMS) executive director wrote, “Nais din niyang (United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan) malaman ang sitwasyon ni Franchie (sic) Mae Cumpio, na kasalukuyang naka-detine sa Palo Provincial Jail sa Leyte dahil sa aktibo nitong papel sa lokal na teroristang grupo ng mga komunista.” 

This is exactly what we mean by red-tagging: a senior government official linking civilians to alleged communist groups without proof. May we remind Mr. Gutierrez that Ms. Cumpio is contesting the charges filed against her in court and has yet to be convicted. There is absolutely no point for anyone, more so a high government official, to forget that “everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.” 

Ironically, Mr. Gutierrez’s column was about the arrival of Ms. Khan who is set to visit the country in an official visit starting next week. Much of the highlight of our submissions to the UNSR office contains precisely this kind of wanton and mindless vilification, harassment and intimidation of journalists. It is exactly this kind of information that we wish Ms. Khan would closely look into in her investigation into the Philippine situation. 

In his column, Mr. Gutierrez declared that he is ready for the challenge of Ms. Khan’s visit. We think not. If he bothered to carefully prepare for the visit, he would have surely found out that Frenchie Mae was an active broadcaster with MBC’s Aksyon Radyo in Leyte at the time of her arrest with several other human rights defenders on February 2020. She is the executive editor of alternative media outfit Eastern Vista and a former editor of the University of the Philippines-Tacloban Vista student publication. She was also manager-in-training of the Radyo Taclobanon, a women-led disaster resiliency community radio station project in Supertyphoon Yolanda-hit Eastern Visayas. Indeed, she is the very Frenchie Mae Cumpio mentioned in laureate Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize speech.  

The statement of USec Guiterrez highlights the urgency of our appeal to Ms Khan to conduct a thorough investigation on the continued vilification of journalists, affecting the exercise of press freedom and the people’s right to know. #

[FIRST PERSON] Sigaw ni Ericson Acosta

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ni Kenneth Guda

Magtatatlong dekada na, naririnig ko pa rin ang boses ni Ericson Acosta sa isipan ko. Hinahanap-hanap ng pandinig ko ang boses niya sa mga room-to-room, ang nangingisay na pagkanta niya sa mga cultural night sa Vinzons rooftop, sa malamok na grandstand ng Sunken Garden, sa madilim at mausok na tanghalan ng Tumbang Preso at Risiris. Naririnig ko siya kahit sa mga pahina ng Kule, at ng Literary Folio ng term nila na paulit-ulit kong binasa, lalo na iyung sanaysay niya hinggil sa teatro (inisa-isa ko ang references niya doon hinggil sa Chinese theater – lahat makikita sa Humanities Section ng Main Library).

Naririnig ko pa ang boses niya nang sabi niya, ang tanging alam niyang salitang Bikol ay “Warang lubot!” bilang paglalarawan sa kanya – payat, walang pwet. Naririnig ko pa rin ang bersiyon niya ng Romeo and Juliet ng Indigo Girls/Dire Straits. Minsan, ginagawa niyang Joma and Juliet. Iyun ang naging entry point ko sa Indigo Girls, na paborito pa rin ngayon.

Naalala ko pa kung paano siya magsalita sa isang students’ consultation hinggil sa CPDP. Umaalingawngaw pa ang mapaglaro at malikhaing chants niya noon: No Mall, No Lease, No to Tuition Fee Increase! No Way, VFA! Iyun naman ang entry point ko sa progresibong pulitika, na tangan pa rin ngayon.

Dinig ko pa ang mga lektyur niya hinggil sa sining, panitikan at, siyempre, pulitika. Tumimo at baon ko pa rin ang mga turo niya hinggil sa layout. Siya ang nagturo sa aking mag-layout, gamit ang Photoshop at Pagemaker pa noon, noong training para sa Collegian Editorial Exams.

Naririnig ko pa ang paliwanag niya kung bakit kailangang gumamit ng serif at hindi sans serif sa body text (“May buntot ang serif, ginigiya ang mata mula sa unang letra hanggang huli”). Hawak-hawak niya noon ang kopya ng Manila Times, na minsang naging asssitant entertainment editor siya, bilang epitomya noon ng magandang layout (noon ha, chaka na ngayon). Noong matalo ako sa editorial exams, nilapitan niya ako sa Vinzons at sinabing “ganun, ganun dapat!” Sobra kasing tumaya ako noon sa training. Sabi niya, ganun ka dapat lumaban, ibuhos mo ang buong galing at kaalaman mo. Balewala nang matalo ka, basta binuhos mo.

Naalala ko pang pinagawan ko siya ng study ng masthead ng Pinoy Weekly noong 2001, pero hindi natanggap dahil nauna na palang pinagawa ang masthead kay Neil Doloricon. Sino ba naman siya, aniya, para sapawan pa si Neil Doloricon. Naririnig ko pa ang boses niya sa mga email niya sa akin na kulitin si Gappi na pumasok ng PW.

Malinaw pa ang alaala ng di-inaasahang pagkikita namin sa isang kakaibang lugar: sa kanayunan ng Bikol, mga taong 2004 o 2005 ata yun. May ginagawa akong istorya hinggil sa eleksiyon at rebolusyonaryong hustisya (may isang army captain na disipulo ni Gen. Jovito Palparan ang pinatay ng NPA sa isang sabungan sa Sorsogon). Nasa isang liblib na lugar ako para makapanayam ang yunit ng mga rebelde. Nakita ko si Ericson doon. Hindi siya armado. Bumaba sa motorsiko, kasama ang ka-buddy. Naka-shorts, lantad ang maputing legs. Warang lubot.

Nagkuwentuhan kami sa isang kubo. May mga sinusulat daw siya. Kahit nasa bundok, nagrerekluta siya – ng mga kabanda sa Acosta Universe. Sa ibang baryo, may nakausap akong isang kabataan. Siya daw ang drummer ng Acosta Universe. Di nila alam, Acosta si Ericson. Akala nila, kung ano lang na pa-cool na pangalan ng banda. Hanggang bundok, maloko talaga si Ericson.

Nung mahuli siya, narinig ko sa mga bumisita sa kanya ang bago niyang mga kanta. Inisip kung bakit patok ang mga ito. Simple lang ang chord progression (panay major), pero palaging madamdamin. Sinasabayan pa niya ng wido na guitar solo, kahit hindi siya marunong noon maggitara.

Siyempre, makata si Ericson, kaya swabe at swak ang lyrics. Romantiko siya. Hindi mahirap maantig sa mga kanta niya, mula sa panahon niya sa Alay Sining (mga kantang Paalam, Magkasama Magsasama, Dahil, Haranang Bayan, marami pa) hanggang naging Kosa at nang mapadpad ng Hacienda Luisita. Grabeng optimistiko, nagpapanatag, tumatanaw sa magandang hinaharap. Iyung ilang kanta niya, nagpapaalam, nagpaparangal – materyal para sa pagpaparangal din natin sa kanya ngayon.

Medyo garalgal na boses niya nitong huli, parang matandang kumakanta. Pero nandun pa rin ang pag-aasam ng kabataan niya. Malungkot pakinggan, pero kapag pinakinggan mo ang sinasabi, nakakagaan ng loob. Parang sinasabi na mahirap man ang dinaraanan natin ngayon, makakatanaw tayo ng mas maaliwalas na bukas. Hindi man natin abutan iyun, tiyak, yung mga anak natin ang makakaabot.

Pumunta ako sa indigation rally sa Commission on Human Rights noong Miyerkules. Habang naghahanda ang mga bata sa programa, pinatutugtog ang mga kanta ni Ericson, narinig ko muli ang kanyang boses. Ilang beses akong napalunok ng hikbi.

Sabi sa mga ulat, ilang beses silang sinaksak ng kasamahan niya sa isang bahay ng magsasaka sa Kabankalan, Negros madaling araw noong Nobyembre 30. Kinailangan talagang maraming beses siyang saksakin, tadyakan, sikmurahan, sipain, bago mamatay. Naiisip ko na ang nakabibinging sigaw niya habang pinapatay siya. Hanggang sa huling sandali, tiyak, sumisigaw siya. At kahit naubos na ang dugo sa payat at warang lubot niyang katawan, naririnig pa rin natin ang boses ni Ericson Acosta.

Peasant leader’s death sparks outrage, calls for justice

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AlterMidya

Longtime peasant leader Joseph Canlas, who had been detained over trumped-up charges, has passed away today, May 11, after he was rushed to a hospital three days ago, according to peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

“We condemn in strongest terms the jail authorities’ neglect and the Duterte government’s unjust incarceration of Ka Joseph which led to his untimely death this morning,” Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women national chairperson Zenaida Soriano said. “We express our deepest condolences to his family.”

Canlas, chairperson of Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon, was arrested March 30 by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police in Mexico, Pampanga. He was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives — a criminal case that human rights groups called the “standard” charges fabricated against activists under the Duterte administration.

The peasant leader was rushed to an Angeles City hospital due to low oxygen level and possible stroke. The following morning, he was transferred to an intensive care unit due to acute respiratory failure and COVID-19.

On May 10, Canlas had lapsed into a coma despite being intubated and connected to a mechanical ventilator.

Human rights groups earlier decried “unjust treatment” of Canlas under custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. They said the land reform advocate was subjected to severe conditions that made him vulnerable to ailments like COVID-19. Hospital records showed his cause of death as pneumonia.

Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), where Canlas served as vice-chairperson, noted that he was in stable condition prior to detention. His health would soon deteriorate under jail custody as proven by his complaints of difficulty in breathing and stuttering speech.

“If jail authorities thoroughly checked Canlas’s health condition, they would have known that he has hypertension and diabetes which makes him more vulnerable to COVID infection,” KMP said.

“If he received proper medical attention while in detention, then the risks could have been lessened,” the group added.

A day after his arrest, Canlas was transferred and put under quarantine at the CIDG Region 3. He was not allowed to receive visitors, including family members and counsel.

According to KMP, Canlas was transferred after two weeks to the BJMP Detention Center in Angeles City after an X-ray examination. Since the BJMP’s facility was full, he was listed to be placed under quarantine.

The peasant advocate was put in BJMP’s quarantine facility along with 100 or more detainees as of April 22. He was transferred to a regular jail after two more weeks.

Who is Joseph Canlas?

Canlas was known in Central Luzon for his decades-long struggle against land grabbing and displacement of farmers in Hacienda Luisita, Hacienda Dolores, Pantabangan Dam, Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija, Camp Gregg in Pangasinan, New Clark City, and expressways CLEX, TPLEX and SCTEX among others.

He finished BS Forestry at Pampanga Agricultural College and became an employee at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He soon became exposed to corruption in the government agency, especially in the implementation of environmental projects.

Canlas eventually resigned from government work and formed the group Anak Gubat to continue his advocacy of protecting the environment. He became a member of the peasant group Aguman dareng Maglalautang Capampangan (AMC) in 1997. During this time, he was also elected as an officer of  Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Pampanga.

In 2003, he became the chairperson of the AMGL and led a membership reaching up to 10,000 farmer-members. According to a Bayan-Gitnang Luson, Canlas led successful people’s campaigns in Central Luzon such as the agricultural workers’ strike in Hacienda Luisita, and against infrastructure projects like the New Clark City, Balog-Balog Dam, Aboitiz Geothermal Powerplant, massive land use conversion and the displacement of farmers and Aetas.

In the middle of the pandemic while he was being constantly red-tagged and harassed by state security forces, Canlas was still at the forefront of relief efforts and calls for sufficient health services and economic assistance to peasants and Aetas in Central Luzon.

His organizations KMP, AMGL, Bayan, as well as other progressive groups have denounced the injustice against the peasant leader. In a statement, the KMP said “we could only blame the Duterte administration for his untimely death. His unjust detention led to the swift deterioration of his health condition.”

“We point our fingers to the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that subjected Canlas to constant red-tagging, Angeles City RTC Executive Judge Ma. Angelica T. Paras-Quiambao who issued the search warrant against Canlas, the PNP-CIDG that executed the defective warrant and carried out the illegal arrest last March 30, and the BJMP for consciously neglecting Canlas’ health condition,” the peasant group said.

According to KMP, peasant organizations and land reform advocates will hold a series of protests, starting with an indignation rally at the Commission of Human Rights complex in Quezon City this afternoon, May 11.

With reports from Ratziel San Juan and Pokus Gitnang Luson 

‘TANIM PILA’: Memo instructs police to use ‘planted’ beneficiaries at community pantries

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AlterMidya

A memorandum and attached project brief from Philippine National Police (PNP) Cagayan de Oro are instructing cops to employ pre-designated beneficiaries in the rollout of their Barangayanihan initiative, which is inspired by the Maginhawa Community Pantry.

Under the said project, police precincts will serve ‘breakfast lugaw’ to select constituents in respective barangays. They are required to cite the Maginhawa Community Pantry as inspiration and make it clear that the effort is a partnership between the precinct and barangay donors and stakeholders.

“Respective beneficiaries will take pictures of the activity and post in their respective FB accounts. These netizens can be planted beneficiary civilians so as to manifest community’s appreciation,” read the project brief.

Although the project brief is attached to the said PNP Regional Office 10 memo, it mentions implementation by almost all precincts in Manila Police District and “possibly the whole NCR and other regions” in the rollout phase from April 21 to 25. Moreover, the next phase from April 26 to May 2 instructs nationwide Barangayanihan.

During this phase, the police are likewise instructed to “ask or plant civilian beneficiaries to take pics/selfies and posting in respective [Facebooks] with appreciation captions and standard MANDATORY hashtags.”

The objectives of Barangayanihan, according to its project brief, include forging stronger ties with the grassroots through the “basic unit of society”, the barangay.

The police directive also explicitly states that “The more we manifest collaborations with the barangay citizenry, the more we gain grounds in the fight against insurgency”, confirming the suspicion of several critics that state forces are planning to use the community pantry against the progressive movement.

Hijacking community pantries?

A portion of the project brief reads “Respective beneficiaries will take pictures and post in their respective FB..”

The said memorandum listed among its references the PNP’s guidance and compliance under Executive Order 70, which institutionalized the whole-of-nation approach against insurgency and established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Just last week, NTF-ELCAC executive director Allen Capuyan in a leaked Viber message encouraged the task force’s different clusters to partner with the public and private sectors to initiate community pantry-related activities.

Capuyan’s message read that the task force is encouraging its clusters, including the Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support (PLEDS), the Poverty Reduction Livelihood and Empowerment Cluster (PRLEC), etc. to start their own community pantry activities.

The PNP memo to organize precinct-run community pantries seems to come from this directive from NTF-ELCAC. Former Bayan Muna party-list representative Teddy Casiño said that the task force’s latest approach follows the controversial red-tagging of community pantries by NTF-ELCAC officials Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy and Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr., which drew huge flak from the public.

“Ok sana kung gustong magtayo ng community pantry ng mga pulis. Pero naman, pati ba ito tataniman nila?” Casiño tweeted.

“Clearly, after failing to discredit and intimidate the community pantry movement, the NTF-ELCAC, police and military establishment are poised to hijack it due to their paranoia that it’s all a communist plot,” he said. “They simply can’t leave a good thing alone.”

In a statement, labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said that the huge budget of the PNP should instead be rechannelled to cash aid for the poor. The Barangayanihan, it said, is a “publicity stunt” that hijacks pantries and attempts to conceal the government’s failure in addressing the pandemic.

“Desperadong hakbang ito gamit ang buwis ng mamamayan,” KMU leader Jerome Adonis said.”Ideretso nyo na ang pera sa mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng P100 daily wage subsidy at P10k ayuda.”

With reports from Ratziel San Juan

On the incredulous red-tagging of Altermidya Network at the Dec. 1 Senate hearing

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ONCE AGAIN, state forces led the hostile red-baiting of independent media at the December 1 Senate hearing after they presented the Altermidya Network and its members nationwide as so-called communist fronts.

The red-tagging of Altermidya journalists, online and on-ground, has intensified even more in the past months. These incidents, just like the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) presentation at the Senate hearing earlier, were done without evidence and incredulously linked the member outfits of Altermidya to an underground Communist organization.

In fact, the task force, despite its billion-peso-budget, merely copied the publicly-available Altermidya list of members and placed it under an incredible organizational heading.

We are appalled at this irresponsible practice, which is a stark contrast to our ethical commitment of truthful and careful reporting as journalists. The Altermidya Network is the broadest alliance of community journalists, independent media outfits, community radio broadcasters, and grassroots film collectives in the country. Its member outfits have a consistent record of covering underreported issues in communities – some for more than two decades, while other community-based media outfits in provinces join and continually expand the network.

Journalists from the alternative media relentlessly report on the situation in various communities across the country: on environment issues, corruption, human rights abuses, on the situation of farmers and workers, among others. Reporting on these stories have resulted in the non-stop attacks in various forms against our members – from death threats, cyberattacks, harassment, physical assault, detention, and even attempted murder.

Now, these attacks against the independent media are being mounted in a prominent arena at the Senate. But we can clearly see through these tactics of smearing and intimidating truth-tellers and critics into silence, especially in the middle of a growing discontent among the public.

We in the Altermidya are not new to attacks on media freedom. We will pursue legal action against this malicious smear campaign on our members. While we exhaust all means to fight back, we shall continue our journalistic responsibility of truth-telling– and with fellow journalists and freedom-loving Filipinos, persist in upholding press freedom and freedom of expression at all costs. #

‘Laban, Kampamilya’: Altermidya’s statement of support for the People’s Initiative for ABS-CBN franchise

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STATEMENT

We, independent media outfits and journalists under the Altermidya Network, express our support to the People’s Initiative to Grant ABS-CBN a People’s Franchise or Pirma Kapamilya, a movement that seek to gather 7 million signatures for ABS-CBN.

After 70 legislators voted a death sentence for the network and its 11,000 employees, many Filipinos and press freedom advocates remain hopeful of possible avenues to grant ABS-CBN a franchise.

‘People’s Initiative’ under the 1987 Constitution grants Filipinos the power to amend the Constitution or enact laws. This procedure is governed by Republic Act 6735 or “The Initiative and Referendum Act,” along with Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Resolution No. 10650.

Under the said rules, a proposed legislation needs the signature of at least 10% of all registered voters or about 6.1 million signatures based on the total registered voters in the 2019 National Elections Record. To ensure that enough signatures are secured after the verification process, a target of 7 million registered voters has been set.

The sheer number of signatures needed is not lost on us: indeed this road is painstaking and difficult, an arduous task only aggravated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Yet at a time when those in power are relentless in eroding our rights – press freedom, our civil liberties, our right to know –we take every instance we have to defend and reclaim these rights with every risk and effort.

The campaign has only just begun, and yet paid hacks and naysayers already accuse it of being an elaborate scheme funded by so-called oligarchs. This claim conveniently ignores how it was precisely those in power who conspired to steal from the Filipino people one of their main sources of information at the height of the public health crisis.

We have underscored from the beginning that this campaign is not a move to protect mere corporate interests. It is an assertion by the Filipino people who cannot tolerate abuses to our constitutionally-guaranteed right to press freedom and free expression.

The road may be difficult but the initiative is a form of taking back the power of the phrase “we, the sovereign Filipino people” enshrined in the 1987 Constitution. As we have always said and done in the past, we will fight back, together for press freedom, for the people’s to know, and for democracy.

Laban, Kapamilya!

Media outfits file complaints vs state agents over red-tagging, seizure of news magazine

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By EMILY VITAL/Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Alternative media outfits filed before the Commission on Human Rights complaints against government officials and state security agents for violating their “fundamental right to press freedom and expression, and the right to information of the audiences they serve.”

Altermidya, the national network of alternative media outfits, Pinoy Weekly, Kodao Productions and Bulatlat filed separate complaints against members of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and Philippine National Police who have threatened and tagged them as terrorists and communist-fronts.

One of the complaints is the recent confiscation by police in Pandi, Bulacan of thousands of copies of the news magazine Pinoy Weekly, which they maliciously tagged “subversive documents.”

The media outfits also cited that the vicious red baiting done by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. and Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and their suspected agents has put their members’ safety and security at risk.

Bulatlat associate editor Danilo Arao filed a separate complaint as his name was included in a fake “Oust Duterte” matrix last year.

Kenneth Roland Guda, editor in chief of Pinoy Weekly, condemned the PNP Region 3 police for tagging the news magazine as “terrorist-related material.” The label, he said, may be used to file trumped-up charges of inciting to commit terrorism against them.

Under the Duterte administration, attacks on alternative media have been persistent. Altermidya documented one case of frustrated murder, eight cases of arrest and detention, 28 cases of threat and intimidation, which include surveillance, two cases of physical injuries, and six cases of cyber-attacks against its member-media outfits.

One of its members, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, is still detained in Tacloban for fabricated charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) expressed its support to Altermidya.

NUJP said that while Duterte has never directly attacked the alternative media, “those in government, particularly state security, have taken the presidential wrath against the free press as license to go after those who shine the light of truth on the inconvenient truths of Philippine society.”

“It is for this shared history of struggling for press freedom and for the invaluable work they do that we are proud to have our colleagues from Altermidya alongside us in the continuing struggle to resist those who would seek to silence open discourse in our society,” NUJP said.

The complaints were received by Ronnie Rosero and Rommel Tinga of CHR Investigative Division. #

Reporting the people’s demands is not a crime

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STATEMENT BY THE PEOPLE’S ALTERNATIVE MEDIA NETWORK/21 May 2020

Information is of utmost importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporting the people’s grievances and demands is the solemn duty of the media; it is not a crime.

The Guimba municipal council’s Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 52 s.2020 last May 11 empowered the mayor of the Nueva Ecija town to file criminal charges against radio network Radyo Natin Guimba (RNG) for alleged violations of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020 (Republic Act 11469) by reporting the complaints of residents over the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

Prior to the resolution, RNG reported that a municipal councilor and son of the incumbent mayor confiscated RNG field reporter Lina Villaflor’s media identification cards issued by the Presidential Communications and Operations Office.

Earlier, on April 22, the mayor had written the station requesting a copy of the radio broadcast aired that day, stating that the “false and malicious” statements made by the commentator could be a basis for his legal action against the station.

This is a form of censorship meant to intimidate the media into either silence or reporting eventually and issues in a manner acceptable to local government officials.

Subsequent direct attacks against the station have been reported, among them the barring of RNG reporters from covering the sessions of the Guimba Sangguniang Bayan. On May 19, the local police again barred an RNG reporter from covering the distribution of rice seeds to farmers.

All these are in violation of press freedom, and were apparently in response to RNG’s reports on the problematic implementation by the Guimba local government of the SAP.

RNG reported that several residents had trooped to their station to air complaints on the “selective” manner in which the cash aid is being distributed—that the municipality and its barangay officials were prioritizing rich farmers over small tillers.

RNG also reported that the local police have prevented them from taking photos and videos of people who trooped to the municipal hall to complain about the SAP implementation.

As much as it is the constitutional right of the people to air their grievances, it is also the constitutional right – and the primordial duty – of the press to report on these issues.

Local government executives should keep in mind that that the current national emergency does not empower officials to silence dissent and curtail press freedom, both of which are essential to a functional democracy in which elected officials are duty-bound to defend the Constitution. #