Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr. of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) issued a statement Monday night claiming that “the ABS-CBN issue is about CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines] propaganda, so it falls under NTF ELCAC’s mandate.”
The statement came after the brouhaha ignited by the recent crossposting in several official government social media accounts of false information about the ABS-CBN issue.
Despite the fact that the NTF ELCAC got burned by the Palace when Communications Sec. Martin Andanar admitted that the cross-posting of NTF ELCAC’s infographics on ABS-CBN did not undergo the “usual vetting procedures,” Parlade persisted in linking the ABS-CBN issue to the CPP.
Under different circumstances, we could have dismissed Parlade’s red-baiting statement. But the reality is that journalists are being harassed, arrested, and killed under the pretext of counter-insurgency.
In a futile attempt to blindside the alternative media, Parlade directly mentioned the Altermidya Network and its members including Bulatlat, Kodao, Tudla, Kilab, Northern Dispatch, and even the formations National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Union of Journalists of the Philippines (UJP), and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, labeling all these groups as “creations of the CPP.” The general also labeled veteran journalist Inday Espina-Varona as a “long-time cohort” of the CPP and dared her to “expose herself some more.”
As we have said, time and again, the fight for the ABS-CBN franchise renewal is a fight for free expression and a fight for all. But Parlade is instead red-tagging virtually everyone and anyone who supports the call for the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise.
There is nothing new in this attack. Keen observers of the increasingly deteriorating state of press freedom in the country were not surprised. In the context of the Duterte administration’s weaponizing the public health emergency to further its goal of controlling information and public opinion, Parlade’s use of the ABS-CBN issue is just one more demonstration of its determination to silence dissent and free expression.
At a time when millions are standing up and speaking out about the abuses of the Duterte administration, state agents respond with a patently unconstitutional crackdown on the media sector.
Parlade’s empty accusations should not deter the media from reporting the truth. Rather they should continue to monitor and hold government to account despite its concerted efforts to silence them.
Stand with ABS-CBN! Defend press freedom and free expression!
SIGNATORIES
Altermidya Network
Bulatlat
Kilab Multimedia
Kodao Productions
Northern Dispatch
Tudla Productions
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
College Editors Guild of the Philippines
Union of Journalists of the Philippines
Concerned Artists of the Philippines
Philippine Press Insititute
International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) Philippines
UP Journalism Department
Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines (PCP)
Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity – LODI
NUJP-NCR
Manila Today
Pinoy Weekly
PinoyMedia Center
UP Solidaridad
CEGP- Bicol, CEGP-Cagayan, CEGP-Cavite, CEGP-Cebu, CEGP-Central Luzon, CEGP-Cordillera, CEGP- Davao, CEGP-Ilocos, CEGP-Laguna, CEGP-Metro Manila, CEGP-Panay, CEGP-Southern Tagalog
Individuals
Inday Espina-Varona
Prof. Luis V. Teodoro
Ramon R. Tuazon
Therese S. Torres
Ma. Imelda Samson
Campus publications
Philippine Collegian
Manila Collegian
UPLB Perspective
UP Bagiuio Outcrop
UP Cebu Tug-ani
UP Mindanao Himati
Tinig ng Plaridel
Sinag (UP CSSP)
Kalasag (UP CAL)
Pagbutlak (UPV CAS)
UP Scientia (UP CS)
The Accounts (UPV College of Management)
NCPAG-Umalohokan
Alyansa ng Kabataang Mamamahayag ng PUP
CLSU Collegian
Fiat Lux
Himati-UP Mindanao
Iskolarium-PUP Sta. Maria Bulacan Campus
RedWire – University of the East
The Current – CMU
PUP BiblioFlix
The Angelite – Holy Angel University
The Catalyst PUP
The Chronicler – PUP Taguig
The College Chronicles – Meycauayan College
The Lycean Pioneer-LPU Manila SHS
The Red Chronicles – San Beda College Alabang School of Law
The Geyser – Isabela State University Cabagan
The CSU Promethean – Cagayan State University Carig
The Scribes – PUP City of Meycauayan
The Searcher – PUP Sto. Tom’s
The Work – Tarlac State University
TomasinoWeb – University of Santo Tomas
The post Joint statement: Stand with ABS-CBN, Defend Free Expression appeared first on Bulatlat.