“Tapos na panahon ng pagkakatakot. Mas nakakatakot ang mamatay na kumakalam ang sikmura ng ating mga pamilya. Mas nakakatakot ang posibilidad na mananatili pa ang ‘veerus’ sa Malacañang. Mas nakakatakot na ang ating mga pamilya at anak ay magmamana ng ganitong klase ng pamumuno.”
The post ‘Mas nakakatakot na mananatili pa ang ‘veerus’ sa Malacañang’ appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Media groups under Altermidya Network filed a consolidated complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for cases of press freedom violations against the alternative media perpetrated by state forces.
The violations range from red-tagging, threat, harassment, surveillance, illegal arrests, and illegal search and seizure.
The latest case was on July 25, wherein the Bulacan police headed by a certain P/Cpt. Jun Alejandrino conducted a search and seizure operation in Villa Lois, Pandi, Bulacan, and seized copies of the alternative newspaper Pinoy Weekly that were stored in the office of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) in the said housing area.
Local leaders of Kadamay were reportedly threatened with arrests after they attempted to ask the police not to seize the copies of the newspaper.
After confiscating copies of Pinoy Weekly, Alejandrino then made the leaders of Kadamay sign a a waiver which, unknown to the leaders at that time, read that they voluntarily surrendered the print copies wrongfully labeled as “subversive documents.”
This is the third incident in the past months in Bulacan involving the seizure of copies of Pinoy Weekly, with the first incident happening in September 2019 also in Pandi, where copies of the said newspaper were publicly burned by groups that called themselves “pro-government.”
“The relentless targeting of Pinoy Weekly by state forces is not only illogical but also reminiscent of the illegal seizure of publications during the Marcos era,” said Altermidya Network spokesperson and Pinoy Weekly Editor Kenneth Guda. “The seizure of physical copies of a legitimate newspaper is a high form of press freedom violation similar to the martial law years under Marcos, something that we thought would never again happen during our time.”
In its letter to the CHR chairperson Chito Gascon, the network stated that almost all media outfits under the banner of Altermidya have been subjected to vicious vilification campaign by the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict and their suspected agents. “For pursuing journalism for the people, Altermidya, Bulatlat, Kodao and Pinoy Weekly, and our members in other regions have been labeled as communist fronts and terrorists. Such red-baiting has put our security at risk, as some of our colleagues were arrested, detained and charged with trumped-up charges,” it said.
Since 2016, the network has documented over 50 press violation cases including 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.
The filing of cases in CHR is pursuant to relevant laws and international human rights instruments that empower the said commission to investigate human rights violations and abuses involving civil and political rights, including violations of the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of the press.
“We appeal to the CHR to immediately conduct an independent probe on these cases. We cannot remain mum amid these relentless attacks, and we need to exhaust all means to fight back and assert our constitutionally-guaranteed rights,” Guda said.
The post Alternative media groups file complaint in CHR vs state forces for press freedom abuses appeared first on AlterMidya.
By EMILY VITAL
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.
The post Media outfits file complaints vs state agents over red-tagging, seizure of news magazine appeared first on Bulatlat.
HOSTED BY JANESS ANN ELLAO
EDITED BY AARON MACARAEG
Bulatlat.com
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Sinalubong ng nagkakaisang mamamayan ang ika-5 State of the Nation Address o SONA ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa pamamagitan ng isang protestang may temang “SONAgkaisa.”
Bitbit ng mga sektor ang kani-kanilang mga panawagan at hinaing sa apat na taon na panunungkulan ng pangulo. Pinakatampok sa mga ito ang panawagang ibasura ang kontrobersyal na Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 o Anti-Terrorism Law.
The post KODAO ASKS: Ano ang iyong pagtingin sa Anti Terror Law? appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Idinaos sa University Avenue, University of the Philippines – Diliman, Quezon City ang United People’s SONA o #SONAgkaisa, na kinabibilangan ng iba’t ibang nga grupo at organisasyon upang itampok ang tunay na kalagayan ng bansang Pilipinas sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
The post United People’s SONA, isinagawa sa kabila ng mga banta appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Mass arrests, illegal seizures, harassment of activists, and other human rights violations marked the conduct of government response to #SONAgKAISA protests all throughout the country as President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address, (SONA) according to reports and documentation compiled by Karapatan and the Concerned Lawyers and Civil Liberties (CLCL), following the issuance of protest bans days ahead of the SONA.
