Kodao’s Villanueva elected to media group’s regional board
Community broadcasters in the Asia Pacific region called on the Philippine government to drop its prosecution against Filipino colleague Frenchie Mae Cumpio, calling charges against her “trumped-up.”
In its Bangkok Declaration, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters-Asia Pacific (French: Association Mondiale Des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires,AMARC-AP) further said the Philippine government must release Cumpio from her “unjust imprisonment” of more than three years.
“We are resolved to call on the Republic of the Philippines to drop all trumped-up charges against our young colleague Frenchie Mae Cumpio and immediately release her from unjust imprisonment,” AMARC-AP said.
AMARC-AP has previously denounced Cumpio’s arrest on February 7, 2020 on allegations of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and has called on the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Irene Khan to investigate when she officially visits the Philippines next January.
Cumpio was an active broadcaster of Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL 819 KHz and was training to become station manager of the prospective disaster preparedness station Radyo Tacloban when arrested.
She was also executive director and editor of alternative media outfit Eastern Vista after her stint as a campus journalist with the University of the Philippines (UP)-Tacloban student publication UP Vista.
Cumpio was only 20 years old upon arrest.
Altermidya poster of its Free Frenchie Mae Cumpio campaign.
‘Stop red-tagging independent media’
Attended by 153 delegates from 15 Asia Pacific countries at Thailand’s Thammasat University, the 5th Regional Assembly of the region’s biggest media group likewise urged the Philippine government to resolve violations on press freedom in the Philippines.
“We likewise urge the Philippine government to bring justice to all victims of media killings as well as stop its red-tagging activities and other forms of persecution against independent media to allow them, including community broadcasting, to exist and operate freely,” its declaration said.
The declaration was unanimously adopted last October 30, three days before the first death anniversary of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa, the second media killing victim under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration.
The AMARC-AP assembly also unanimously voted Kodao reporter and People’s Alternative Media Network chairperson Raymund Villanueva as member of the group’s regional board.
Villanueva shall serve as treasurer and AMARC-AP regional executive committee member in the next four years. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/amarc-ap.jpg8522048Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-10-04 17:18:172023-10-04 17:20:33Asia Pacific community broadcasters demand Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s freedom
One year into the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the state of free expression has not improved. In fact, it has further deteriorated in the Philippines.
President Marcos Jr. pledged to uphold press freedom. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, however, recorded 84 incidents of attacks on the media from June 30, 2022 until July 22, 2023. This number is 42 percent higher compared to the documented cases during Duterte’s first 13 months in office.
Three journalists have been killed while four others survived two separate shooting incidents. The July 14 shooting of San Juanico TV reporters in Pastrana, Leyte by members of the local police and the subsequent surveillance and harassment they are subjected to prove that a lot has to be done to address impunity in the country.
Community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and dozens of artists, including Adora Faye de Vera, Amanda Echanis, JP and Grace Versoza, Lorie Sigua, and Aldeen Yañez among others, continue to languish in jail over trumped-up criminal charges. Their only crime is that they have utilized their skills and talent to amplify the voices of marginalized and oppressed sectors.
Libel laws continue to be wielded as a form of harassment against journalists. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos Jr., and even extended the prescription period of cyber libel from 12 years to 15 years. Last December 2022, journalist Frank Cimatu was convicted of cyber libel over a satirical social media post pertaining to former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol.
The blocking order against the websites of media outfits Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, and of several progressive people’s organizations stands. For publishing critical news and views, they continue to be censored by the Philippine government.
President Marcos Jr. also remains silent on various attacks against freedom of expression, especially in support of the right to assemble and seek redress for grievances.
The red-tagging of journalists, artists, activists, and anyone expressing opinion contrary to government narratives persists. The government task force mandated to end the armed conflict and their minions attempt to portray as “terrorists” those who voice out legitimate criticisms and concerns. The entire state machinery, under the guise of the “whole-of-nation-approach” is used to curtail not only free expression but also the right to organization of different sectors pushing for their rights and welfare.
State forces wield the anti-terror law as a weapon against human rights defenders. The Anti-Terror Council has designated as terrorists indigenous peoples activists in the Cordillera, and a community doctor in Mindanao despite the dismissal of fabricated charges filed against these human rights defenders. In the Southern Tagalog region alone, 15 activists, including two Church leaders, have been charged with violation of the Anti-Terror Act.
Marcos Jr. has not lifted a finger to undo the excesses and abuses of Duterte. His inaction is taken as a go-signal by those who continue to violate the people’s right to free speech and free expression.
We, journalists, artists and advocates, speak now to challenge the Marcos Jr. administration to reverse the policies of his predecessor and uphold and respect the people’s rights.
Free Frenchie Mae Cumpio and all detained artists and human rights defenders!
Stop censorship! Unblock the truth! Junk the Anti-Terror Law! Artists and Media, Fight Back!
Altermidya Network Concerned Artists of the Philippines National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/press.png5401000Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-07-31 14:15:542023-07-31 14:18:06Threats to Truth-telling, Free Expression Worsen During Marcos Jr.’s First Year in Office
There is no genuine press freedom in the Philippines while a journalist unjustly remains in jail, media groups said on World Press Freedom Day today, May 3.
Media groups People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) both called for the liberty of Tacloban-based journalist and broadcaster Frenchie Mae Cumpio who has been in jail for more than three years.
“This 30th World Press Freedom Day, the struggle for a genuinely free press in the Philippines persists as community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio remains unjustly detained in Tacloban City,” Altermidya said in a statement.
Charged with terrorism-related cases, Cumpio is also appealing the forfeiture of hundreds of thousands of pesos the police said she was using to finance rebellion.
Cumpio was among human rights defenders and activists arrested in February 2020 in simultaneous raids by the police.
“The Altermidya Network continues to call for the dismissal of all fabricated charges and immediate release of our fellow community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio,” the media group said.
“We have no doubt that elements of the state are behind prolonging Frenchie’s case as she is a fierce government critic who upholds the interest of the people in her reportage,” it added.
Meanwhile, NUJP said that while there have been recent press freedom victories, such as in the acquittal of Maria Ressa and Rappler of tax evasion cases, many journalists are still facing threats.
NUJP said that prior to their arrest, Cumpio had been red-tagged and subjected to surveillance by the police and the military and that charges against her are based on testimony from questionable witnesses.
“The slow pace of (Cumpio’s) case — especially in contrast with the quick resolution of other, more high profile ones — is a violation of her right to a quick trial and also deprives the communities on (Eastern Visayas) that she used to report on and for,” NUJP said.
Other press freedom violations
NUJP said that Cumpio’s case is just one among several other press freedom violations in the Philippines.
The group said that since the Rodrigo Duterte administration, there have been attempts to convince journalists to disaffiliate from groups like the NUJP and outright attempts to paint the independent and alternative press as “enemies of the state.”
“While these attempts have been toned down under the new administration, they have continued. Attempts to organize within our ranks — and among citizens in general — are viewed with suspicion, if not vilified outright,” the group revealed.
NUJP and Altermidya also complain of government orders to block Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly news websites, as well as the “weaponization” of laws against freedom of expression and opinion, including the Anti-Terrorism and SIM Card Registration acts.
The groups also recalled government-led attacks against the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler and ABS-CBN as well as the still unresolved murders of journalists Renato Blanco and Percy Lapid who were killed under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/frenchie.jpg600800Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-05-03 16:41:162023-05-04 08:49:55Press Freedom Day ignites with demands for journalist’s liberty
Awards founder: ‘He exemplifies offering one’s self and skills in leading efforts to uplift small communities through broadcasting’
Parts of the 16th Gandingan awarding ceremony announcing the first-ever recipient of the Ka Louie Tabing Memorial Achievement Award and Raymund Villanueva’s acceptance speech. (Footage by the UP Community Broadcasting Society)
Kodao’s Raymund Villanueva won the first-ever Ka Louie Tabing Memorial Achievement Award in Community Broadcasting in the 16th Gandingan Awards given annually by the Community Broadcasters’ Society Inc. (ComBroadSoc) of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB).
Cited for his active role in training community radio broadcasters in the Philippines and abroad as well as in establishing community radio stations nationwide, Villanueva won over two other finalists, the Radyo Natin network of the Manila Broadcasting Company and Radyo Katabang of the local government unit of Vinzons, Camarines Norte.
The award was named after the late Lucio “Ka Louie” N. Tabing, hailed for advocating for the inclusion of the rural masses and the indigenous peoples in broadcasting and development. He died in January 2018 of natural causes.
“Ngayong taon…ay nahanap na natin ang kauna-unahang tatanggap ng Ka Louie Tabing Memorial Achievement Award in Community Broadcasting. Siya ang ating ehemplo sa pag-aalay ng sarili at kakayahan upang manguna sa pagtataguyod ng kapakanan ng maliliit na komunidad sa pamamagitan ng pamamahayag at pagtuturo sa mga mamamamayan,” Gandingan Awards founder and UPLB Prof. Mark Lester M. Chico said.
(This year, we have found our first-ever recipient of the Ka Louie Tabing Memorial Achievement Award in Community Broadcasting. He exemplifies offering one’s self and skills in leading efforts to uplift small communities through broadcasting and teaching citizens.)
UPLB Department of Development Broadcasting and Telecommunication (DDBTC) chairperson Dr. Trina Leah T. Mendoza said the Ka Louie Tabing Award is recognition to radio stations and personalities who have significantly contributed to the field of development through their reporting and storytelling.
“Following a thorough deliberation by the DDBTC and in partnership with the UP Community Broadcasters’ Society, we have selected an awardee who has championed community radio broadcasting through the establishment of community radio stations in the country and capacity building of community radio broadcasters throughout the Asia-Pacific region,” Dr. Mendoza said in her announcement of the winner.
“This award is truly significant because Ka Louie was a pioneer in both the concept and practice of community radio broadcasting in the Philippines and beyond,” she added.
Dr. Mendoza said Villanueva is a broadcaster and journalist of 25 years and a chief reporter and editor who focus on human rights and peace journalism.
Villanueva has participated in both successful and aborted attempts to establish community radio stations in Cagayan, Mountain Province, Leyte, Cebu, Iloilo and Bukidnon provinces, as well as in Metro Manila.
He has hosted and produced multi-awarded radio shows in several commercial, campus and religious radio stations in Metro Manila.
As a community broadcasting advocate, he has given trainings and workshops for communities and organizations throughout the Philippines and among migrant Filipino communities in Hong Kong, Italy and The Netherlands. He has also represented the Philippines in community radio conferences and assemblies in Argentina, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Timor Leste as participant and trainer.
FOR ELENA AND FRENCHIE MAE
In his acceptance speech, Villanueva paid tribute to Tabing he credits for encouraging Kodao Productions towards community radio broadcasting.
He said Tabing is highly regarded as a pioneer in the global movement of community broadcasters.
Villanueva however complained of the burning of Radyo Cagayano, the closure of Radyo Lumad due to red-tagging, and the failure of Radyo Taclobanon, Radyo Sugbuanon and Radyo Komunidad among urban poor communities in Metro Manila to proceed due to harassments from suspected state agents.
He also cited the 2020 abduction and subsequent death of Bantayan Island development worker Elena Tijamo who turned up dead in a Mandaluyong City hospital a year later.
Tijamo, a red-tagging victim, assisted in the establishment of Radyo Sugbuanon that was later forced to stop test broadcasts after repeated police harassment.
In a Facebook post Saturday night, Villanueva also called for the release of Tacloban-based broadcaster Frenchie Mae Cumpio he helped train to later become anchor and station manager of the planned Radyo Taclobanon.
Red-tagged, Cumpio is accused by the government of being a communist guerrilla even while she was hosting a regular weekly radio show in Palo, Leyte.
“But we will not stop in our efforts to establish more community radio stations in the future. We persevere because of our desire for genuine social justice that is possible only when the people have their own free voice,” Villanueva said.
“There is no democracy if the people are silenced,” he added.This year’s Gandingan Awards is themed, “Naninindigan para sa ating mga karapatan” (Standing up for our rights) its organizers said is a salute to media workers and institutions who stand up for the human and other rights that are under attack.
The award is named after a set of four hanging gongs that are part of a kulintang ensemble and also used by the Maguindanao youth to communicate.
The UP Community Broadcasting Society announcement card.
VETERAN JOURNALIST, PRESS FREEDOM ADVOCATE
Villanueva is Kodao Production’s director for radio who has hosted radio programs in several radio stations throughout his career as broadcaster-journalist.
He has filed news reports from Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, China, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Italy, The Netherlands, Argentina, Timor Leste, Norway, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
A press freedom advocate, he is the immediate past deputy secretary general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines that he also served as a two-term national director. He is currently the NUJP’s media safety officer for Luzon.
Villanueva is a previous winner of several Gawad Agong Awards for his reportage on the national minorities and was the 2015 Titus Brandsma Emergent Leadership in Journalism awardee of the Carmelite Order in the Philippines.
He is a fellow of the first and only Diploma in Radio Journalism program of the Asian Institute of Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2006 and a fellow of the Graciano Lopez Jaena Community Journalism Workshop on human rights reporting of the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 2012.
He authored two books on Kodao’s reports on the peace process between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
His first book published in 2018 was a collection of poems from the 1990s to the 2010s. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/rv.jpg454441Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-04-05 15:28:462022-04-05 15:29:23UPLB’S Gandingan gives first ever-Louie Tabing Memorial Achievement Award to Kodao's Villanueva
Despite another fabricated case of terrorist financing charged against her and her co-accused, community journalist and political prisoner Frenchie Mae Cumpio remains steadfast and fearless behind bars.
In celebration of the month of love, KAPATID, a support organization of political prisoners in the Philippines, posted an open letter by Cumpio that she wrote after her unjust arrest two years ago. Cumpio wrote, “love means fighting back.”
“Yes, we could have had a better life like what people would say but remembering the demolition threats among several barangays in Tacloban, the land grabbing cases in Tacloban and Leyte, the illegal arrests of farmers and other activists, the strong Junk STS (socialized tuition scheme) and free education campaign, WE’D STILL MAKE THE CHOICE WE MADE YEARS AGO. Life behind bars is still better than not showing our love for this country,” Cumpio declared.
“Love means fighting back. Life behind bars is still better than not showing our love for this country.” — Frenchie Mae Cumpio,Journalist & Political Prisoner
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.png00Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-02-16 20:03:482022-02-16 20:10:22'Love means fighting back'
Media groups and supporters held a biking event Sunday morning to commemorate the anniversary of the arrest of a journalist in Tacloban City on what they claim are trumped up charges.
Members of the People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya), the International Association of Women in Radio and Television-Philippine Chapter, and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) biked around Quezon City to call for the dropping of charges against Eastern Vista executive director Frenchie Mae Cumpio.
The bikers along Quezon Avenue on their way to the Commission on Human Rights.
Cumpio was arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives by the Philippine National Police (PNP), allegations uniformly leveled against arrested critics of the Rodrigo Duterte government.
The event also called for the immediate release of Manila Today editor Lady Ann Salem whose case was dismissed by the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court just last Friday due to inconsistencies in the statements submitted by police witnesses.
Salem was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the PNP last December 10, International Human Rights Day.
She remains in jail, however, pending the issuance of a release order by the court.
The bike event started at the University of the Philippines and made its first stop at ABS-CBN where a brief program was held.
The bikers pedaled on to the statue of press freedom icon Joaquin Roces and then to the Commission on Human Rights were programs were also held.
Altermidya national coordinator Rhea Padilla and Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity convenor Tonyo Cruz vowed to continue their struggle to free Cumpio and Salem.
ABS-CBN Rank and File Employees Union president Jon Villanueva for his part thanked the media organizations and press freedom advocates for their continuing support to the beleaguered network.
ABS-CBN Rank and File Employees Union president Jon Villanueva.
Members of the Photojournalists Center of the Philippines welcomed the bikers at ABS-CBN.
The NUJP meanwhile hailed Mandaluyong RTC Presiding Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio’s cancellation of the search warrant used against Salem that “suffered from vagueness.”
“Even as we eagerly await Icy’s (Salem) return to freedom, we denounce the gross injustice she was subjected to by the agents of a government bent on suppressing the independent media and freedom of expression,” the NUJP said.
In a separate statement, the NUJP demanded the release of Cumpio it said was arrested and is being detained on spurious charges.
“The ordeal of Frenchie Mae is part of the increasing persecution of the critical media by the forces of a government so intolerant of criticism and dissent that the mere exercise of democratic rights is enough for one to be branded an ‘enemy of the state,’” the NUJP said. # (Report and photos by Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/4.jpg540720Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-02-07 14:36:372021-02-07 14:50:00Journos pedal for jailed colleagues
The year 2020 had been particularly bad for journalism in the Philippines that saw more media workers killed, arrested, jailed and lose their jobs, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported.
The media group said four journalists have been killed in the Philippines, including Cornelio Pepino in Negros Oriental last May 5; Jobert Bercasio in Sorsogon last September 14; Virgilio Maganes in Pangasinan last November 10; and Ronnie Villamor in Masbate last November 14.
Villamor was shot dead by the Philippine Army that claimed the journalist was a communist supporter and killed in an encounter.
Maganes, who survived the first slay attempt against him in 2016 by playing dead, was killed inside their family compound in Villasis, Pangasinan.
“Their deaths have brought the total of media killings under Duterte to 19, and to 191 since 1986,” the NUJP said.
The International Federation of Journalists lists the Philippines as among the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world in 2020.
Their killing of four Filipino media workers figured in the list of 60 journalists killed worldwide in 2020 by the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
The IFJ list made the Philippines the fourth most dangerous country for journalists in the world in 2020, along with Syria and after India (8 killed), Pakistan (7), Afghanistan (7).
The list made the country the most dangerous in Southeast Asia as well.
Twenty-seven journalists were killed in the Asia-Pacific, the most dangerous region for journalists in 2020.
Arrests and detention
Seven journalists have also been arrested, at least two of whom remain detention, both women and executives of alternative media outfits.
Those arrested in 2020 include Glenn Jester Hitgano in Jan. 21 (arbitrarily arrested during coverage); Frenchiemae Cumpio in Feb. 7 (illegal firearms possession); Ramil Traya Bagues in Aug. 18 (cyber-libel); Rommel Ibasco Fenix in Sept. 15 (libel and violation of Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009); Virgilio Avila Jr. in Nov. 10 (cyber-libel); Mia Concordia in Nov. 10 (cyber-libel); and Lady Ann Salem in Dec. 10 (illegal possession of firearms and explosives).
Cumpio, executive director of alternative media outfit Eastern Vista, was sleeping at a church group’s dormitory when arrested in the dead of night.
Her case was among those cited by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights report in June last year as a clear case of human rights violation.
Partial Committee to Protect Journalists list of jailed media workers where Frenchie Mae Cumpio appears.
Cumpio’s imprisonment also made it to the list of 274 journalists jailed in 2020 globally by the New-York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The CPJ said the number was “a new high…as governments cracked down on coverage of COVID-19 or tried to suppress reporting on political unrest.”
Salem, editor of alternative news outfit Manila Today was arrested, of all days, on International Human Rights Day.
The NUJP has reported Salem’s case to the CPJ but the latter’s list has yet to include her name.
Salem is currently is in a Covid-19 isolation protocol at the Mandaluyong City Jail after her transfer from the Philippine National Police’s jail facility at Camp Crame.
CPJ infographic on countries where journalists have been jailed in 2020.
The rest of the arrested Filipino journalists were able to post bail, except Bagues whose current status the NUJP is trying to find out.
Red-tagging and charges
The NUJP said that the Philippine government had been especially vicious against the press the past year as compared to the first three years of the Rodrigo Duterte government.
“[B]ad as the first three years were, 2020 trumped them all as Duterte and his minions ramped up their attacks on the free press even as the COVID-19 pandemic began to make its deadly grip felt,” the NUJP said.
The media group said the Duterte government displayed a “most brazen abuse of state power” by red-tagging journalists and media institutions.
Aside from Cumpio and Salem, various government agencies and officials red-tagged alternative media outfits Kodao Productions, Bulatlat, Pinoy Weekly, Northern Dispatch, Panay Today, Manila Today, Radyo Natin-Guimba as well as dominant media organizations ABS-CBN, Rappler, CNN-Philippines, among many others.
Veteran journalist and NUJP director and former chairperson Nestor Burgos Jr. had also been red-tagged.
Editors and staff of Baguio City-based Northern Dispatch faced various police-instigated charges in court throughout last year.
Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former researcher-writer Rey Santos Jr. were judged guilty in June last year of libelling a businessman with links to Duterte.
Maria Ressa in a press briefing after her conviction of libel last June 15. (Photo by R. Villanueva)
ABS-CBN closure
The NUJP said the pandemic gave Duterte convenient cover to make good his repeated threats to shut down ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ biggest media conglomerate.
As threats of arrest forced the growing crowds that had rallied to the beleaguered network since late last year to stand down, the House of Representatives allowed ABS-CBN’s franchise to lapse, forcing the network to stop broadcasting on May 5.
On May 5, the network stopped broadcasting and, two months later, in June, the majority of the House committee on congressional franchises sealed its fate, voting to deny it a new franchise to operate.
Duterte thus become the second president after Ferdinand Marcos to force ABS-CBN off the air, the NUJP said.
The closure left thousands jobless and the loss of ABS-CBN regional stations also left many areas without their major source of news and entertainment.
The full extent of this would become clear during typhoons Rolly and Ulysses that caught millions of victims previously dependent on ABS-CBN news and alerts unaware of the hazards of the disasters, the NUJP said.
“We strongly condemn the NTF-ELCAC’s callous, dangerous, and evidence-less red-tagging of the Altermidya network,” media organizations including the Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines Department of Journalism, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation, the Foundation for Media Alternatives, MindaNews, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Philippine Press Institute as well as media outfits Rappler and VERA Files said.
Bright spots
All was not gloomy in 2020, however, as there had been bright spots in the local media community’s defense of press freedom, the NUJP said.
“Not least of this was the successful push to have UNESCO revert the status of the Ampatuan massacre to ‘unresolved’ after it was pointed out that the legal process is not finished and 76 suspects are still at large and will need to be tried should they be arrested, the media group said.
The NUJP also cited other notable victories such as the case of GMA workers who sued the network over unfair labor practices
In February, the Court of Appeals decided to reinstate, with no loss of seniority and with full back wages, 51 employees who had been illegally terminated while the Supreme Court in September ruled to reinstate 30 cameramen and assistant cameramen illegally dismissed by GMA in 2013.
The NUJP also said that despite “continuing efforts of the enemies of truth to spread disinformation, the media community has, by and large, successfully fended them off, including the paid influencers and trolls of government.”
“As we thankfully bid goodbye to 2020, we are also aware of what could be even greater challenges and threats to freedom of the press and of expression in 2021 and beyond…And so we look forward to 2021 resolved to continue defending and pushing the boundaries for press freedom in our land,” the NUJP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/6.jpg13652048Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2021-01-01 11:40:102021-01-01 11:40:122020 saw most brazen abuses vs journalism—NUJP
Media organizations worldwide are calling for the release of Tacloban-based reporter Frenchie Mae Cumpio and other jailed journalists throughout Asia amid the sweeping coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter dated April 27, 74 organizations called on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung Sun Suu Kyi, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong to release imprisoned journalists in response to calls from various quarters to decongest and prevent coronavirus contagion in jails.
The New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) began a campaign on March 30 called #FreeThePress, launching a petition and publishing an open letter to world leaders urging the immediate release of all journalists imprisoned for their work.
“Given that a staggering number of these imprisoned journalists are held in jails across the Asian continent, we are reiterating that call to your respective countries at this time of grave public health concern,” the letter reads.
The media and rights organizations said the release of the jailed journalists is in line with the protection of free press and the free flow of information at the current crucial times.
“For journalists jailed in countries affected by the virus, freedom is now a matter of life and death. Imprisoned journalists have no control over their surroundings, cannot choose to isolate, and are often denied necessary medical care,” it adds.
According to CPJ’s most recent annual prison census conducted last December 1, there were at least 63 journalists in prisons in Asia, including 48 in China, 12 in Vietnam, two in India, and one in Myanmar.
As of March 31, at least five journalists have been released, four in China and one in Vietnam, according to CPJ research.
However, at least five more journalists have been arrested since December 1, including Cumpio in the Philippines, Sovann Rithy in Cambodia, Chen Jiaping in China, Gautam Navlakha in India, and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in Pakistan.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Michael Forst supports the call for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio (Photo by Raymund B. Villanueva/Kodao)
Cumpio, reporter and executive director of the community media group Eastern Vista and a radio host at Aksyon Radyo in Palo, Leyte was arrested in a pre-dawn raid by the police at a Church-owned property on allegations of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Cumpio’s colleagues and supporters said the police charges are not only trumped-up but ridiculous.
The letter, sent electronically to the said heads of state, was signed by 74 media, press freedom and human rights organizations, including the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
“Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees everyone the right to freedom of opinion and expression without interference and the right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” the letter notes.
It further cites the World Health Organization: “People deprived of their liberty, and those living or working in enclosed environments in their close proximity, are likely to be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease than the general population.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/frenchie-mae-photo.jpg392708Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2020-05-04 10:27:222020-05-04 10:27:26Int’l and local media groups call for Tacloban journalist’s freedom amid COVID
The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC Asia-Pacific) joins its members, human rights defenders and advocates of free media in the Philippines in condemning the illegal arrest of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, 21, a community broadcaster and journalist associated with the Aksyon Radyo – Tacloban DYVL 819 kHz. Frenchie Mae is also the Executive Director of the independent media outfit Eastern Vista, correspondent of Altermidya in Tacloban City and an active member of the Philippine chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television. According to statements, she and four other human rights defenders were arrested in Tacloban City early Friday morning, February 7, 2020.
According to human rights groups in the Philippines, the arrest of Frenchie Mae and the others is part of the government’s work to silence those media personalities that are critical to the policies and principles of the state. Frenchie Mae was under surveillance by the state forces since 2018. The last one was this year, January 31 where a suspected element of the Armed Forces of the Philippines visited her office in Tacloban City carrying a bouquet of flower with Frenchie’s photo inserted on it. Even though it was meant to be a death threat to her Frenchie Mae continued her work until her arrest.
AMARC and its global family of community radios and advocates of freedom of expression stand in solidarity with our members and colleagues in the Philippines in protesting against the attacks by the Duterte administration against human rights defenders and free media,” said Ram Bhat, President of AMARC Asia-Pacific. #
(The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) gathers more than 5,000 community radios, federations and community media stakeholders in approximately 115 countries.)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/frenchie-mae-photo.jpg392708Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2020-02-21 14:20:472020-02-21 14:20:48AMARC condemns the arrest of broadcaster Frenchie Mae Cumpio of the Philippines
A journalist and four other human rights defenders were arrested in Tacloban City early Friday morning, February 7, raising cries of condemnation from media and human rights organizations.
Eastern Vista reporter and Aksyon Radyo – Tacloban DYVL 819 kHz broadcaster Frenchie Mae Cumpio was arrested at the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) staff house in Barangay Calanipawan in Tacloban City along with RMP staff Mariell Domanquill.
Guns were planted in their rooms, human rights group Karapatan said.
The RMP is the mission partner of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines.
Cumpio acts as Eastern Vista executive director, Altermidya correspondent in Tacloban City and an active member of the Philippine chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television.
She co-hosts the long-running weekly DYVL radio show Lingganay Han Kamotuoran produced by the Promotion of Church People’s Response in Eastern Visayas.
Simultaneous with the raid on the RMP house, the police led by a certain Lt. Col. Pedere raided the Katungod Sinirangang Bisayas office where Karapatan National Council member for Eastern Visayas Alexander Philip Abinguna, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) -Tacloban’s Mira Legion and People’s Surge spokesperson Marissa Calbajao were arrested.
The Katungod
office in Fatima Village, Bañezville, Brgy. 77, Tacloban City is shared with
Bayan and peasant organization Sagupa.
Calbajao’s one-year old baby was also taken to the police station. Her organization, People’s Surge, is a Leyte and Samar-based organization advocating for genuine rehabilitation for Supertyphoon Yolanda victims.
The five are being charged with illegal possession of firearms and are detained at the Palo Philippine National Police (PNP) office, Altermidya said.
Media groups up in arms
“We condemn the Leyte police and
state forces for this latest attack on Eastern Vista, our fellow community
journalist Cumpio, and against people’s groups in Leyte. We demand their
immediate and safe release, and call on the public to denounce this latest
attempt to silence and intimidate independent media and human rights
defenders,” Altermidya said in its alert.
The National Union of Journalists
of the Philippines (NUJP) also condemned the police for its arrest of Cumpio
and demanded her immediate release.
“We offer our full support to
Cumpio and our colleagues in Eastern Vista and Lingganay han Kamatuoran and
call on the community of independent Filipino journalists to close ranks with
us,” the NUJP said in a statement.
Before her arrest, Cumpio had been
the subject of continued harassment and intimidation by men and at least one
woman believed to be state security agents who had been tailing her around
since September last year.
In the most recent incident on
January 31, an unidentified man described by witnesses as tall and sporting a
military-style haircut, visited the Eastern Vista office bearing a flower
bouquet and showing a photo of Cumpio as he asked residents for her
whereabouts.
On December 13, Cumpio reported
that motorcycle-riding men she believed with military were tailing her around
Tacloban City.
The arrest of Cumpio is
reminiscent of that of Anne Krueger of the Negros-based alternative media
outfit Paghimud-os, who was among the more than 50 persons arrested in
simultaneous raids by the military and police on the offices of legal organizations
long accused by the government of being “fronts” of the communist rebel
movement, the NUJP said.
Krueger had been temporarily
released after posting bail on similar illegal possession of firearms,
ammunition, and explosives.
Cumpio’s arrest is clearly part of
government’s crackdown against not only these supposed communist fronts but all
critical media, the NUJP said.
Since last year, the government
has no longer bothered to hide the fact that the critical media have been
included in their list of “enemies of the state,” the NUJP added.
“The arrests of Cumpio and, before
her, Krueger, the red-tagging of the NUJP and other press freedom groups and
advocates, the continued attempts to shut down Rappler, ABS-CBN and the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, are all part of this government’s efforts to silence
the free exchange of ideas and co-opt media into mouthing only what it allows,”
the NUJP said.
“Let us thwart this government’s attempts to muzzle freedom of the
press and expression, without which democracy cannot survive. Let us send out
the message that we are free not because anyone allows us to be but because we
insist on being free,” the media group added.
Gestapo-like raids
Karapatan said
the raids, conducted between 1:00am to 2:30am, were “Gestapo-like” as the
activists were sleeping when the police forcibly entered the Katungod-Bayan-Sagupa
offices.
“They were
brought out of their rooms and minutes after, at least two guns, 1 machine gun
and materials for an improvised explosive device were planted in the rooms,”
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
As in the case
with the RMP staff house raid, the warrants were only shown to those arrested
after they were accosted, Palabay added.
“Today’s
arrests and raids should enrage should who stand for civil liberties and human
rights, social justice and lasting peace in the country. We are calling on all
advocates and communities to defend the rights of defenders against these
attacks by the Duterte administration,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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