RP PRESS FREEDOM RATING UP BUT...
MANILA, MAY 1, 2008 (STAR) In a year where the environment for journalists grew more hostile, 2007 saw press freedom in the Philippines improve slightly, US researchers reported Tuesday.Despite this, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was labeled as “the most notorious public figure to file libel charges against journalists,” as Freedom House, a non-profit organization, took note of the prevalence of libel cases lodged in recent years.
Filipino journalists are still categorized as “partly free” in the report released ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Saturday.
From a rank of 100 in 2006, the Philippines jumped three notches to 97th place of 195 countries and territories rated by Freedom House. The country is tied with Bosnia.
“While reports are often rooted in sensationalism and innuendo, media in the Philippines have historically ranked among the freest, most vibrant and outspoken in Southeast Asia,” the report said.
But last year, it noted that press freedom here “continued to face limits due to the ongoing threat posed by journalist-targeted violence and the use of defamation suits to silence criticism of public officials.”
The analysis likewise highlighted the arrest of media practitioners who covered the siege of The Peninsula Manila in Makati City by military dissidents led by former Navy officer and now Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in November.
“The arrests of 30 media workers covering a coup attempt in November and subsequent warnings infringed upon news coverage of a significant national event,” Freedom House said.
It also took note that while media coverage of the campaign period in the run-up to the May polls was “generally unbiased, there were a few cases in which the media was prevented from conducting interviews with high-level opposition members” like Trillanes.
“Members of the foreign press were prevented from interviewing jailed opposition candidate Sen. Antonio Trillanes in May,” the analysis said.
Setbacks for press freedom outnumbered advances 2-to-1 across the globe, although the Internet and blogs helped slow the decline, particularly in Iran, reported Freedom House.
“There have been repeated crackdowns in the past few years and Iran is on the cusp of the bottom-performing category, but kept out by these forms of expression,” said Karlin Karlekar, senior researcher for Freedom House.
Iraq, meanwhile, again was a disappointment. “There hasn’t been the improvement in Iraq one hoped for several years ago,” the researcher said. “One of the reasons given for the invasion was to bring democracy to Iraq. The democracy that has been established is highly problematic.”
Still, the US-backed country was not listed among the worst countries for press freedom. The worst-rated country was North Korea, while Myanmar, also known as Burma, was second with a worsening crackdown in the media. Cuba, Libya, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea were also among the worst-rated.
One region singled out for praise for overall improvement was the Middle East and North Africa. The average regional score reflected the fact that in a number of countries, the media environment has benefited from greater access to satellite television service and the Internet, including new formats such as blogs and social-networking websites.
In addition, in the only positive status change of the year, Egypt was upgraded from Not Free to Partly Free as local journalists proved willing to cross “red lines” that had previously restricted their work, and a greater range of viewpoints emerged not only in the traditional Egyptian media but also in the pan-Arab press, informal media, and blogs.
Western Europe again had the highest level of press freedom in the world, although declines were registered in Portugal, Malta and Turkey.
Of 195 countries and territories rated, 72 were cited as free, 59 as partly free and 64 as not free.
Rights of the press
While freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are guaranteed in the Philippine Constitution, Freedom House noted the introduction in 2007 of “new national security legislation that may limit journalists’ traditional rights and access to sources.”
One of these is Executive Order 608 issued on April 20, “shortly before the May 7 legislative elections.”
EO 608, “established a national security clearance system ‘to protect and ensure the integrity and sanctity’ of classified information against ‘enemies of the state,’” Freedom House said.
“The order calls on the heads of government agencies to implement a vaguely defined security clearance procedure approved by the national security adviser,” it analyzed in its report.
In July, the new Human Security Act, or the anti-terror law, was enacted. With this, Freedom House reported, watchdog groups expressed further concerns that it “will allow members of the media to be wiretapped based on mere suspicion in involvement in terrorism.”
The country’s penal code makes libel a criminal offense punishable by prison terms and – in some cases, extreme fines, Freedom House said. “The prevalence and extremity of libel cases in recent years prompted a broad-based movement calling for the decriminalization of defamation in 2006.”
It noted that the August 2006 bill approved by the House of Representatives “now requires that libel suits against members of the press be filed at the court… where the journalist or media outlet maintains its principal office. Civil actions connected to it must also be filed in the same court as the criminal complaint.
President Arroyo’s husband was cited by Freedom House as having filed 11 suits against a total of 46 different journalists as of May 2007.
“(Mr.) Arroyo continued to launch defamation suits in early 2007… despite a major civil class action suit collectively launched against him in December 2006 for using the courts to harass the media,” the report said.
Freedom House pointed out that the First Gentleman, who has been out of the limelight of controversies since undergoing open-heart surgery last year, dropped all 46 complaints on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, in what he called a “gesture of peace” following his release from the hospital.
“Local press freedom groups welcomed the development but attributed the decision to the political costs for his wife’s regime presented by the class action suit,” Freedom House noted.
Still, a dangerous place for the press
“Violence against journalists impunity regarding past cases of abuse are important factors in a country’s level of press freedom,” Freedom House said.
The Philippines was particularly cited – along with Sri Lanka and Pakistan – in South and Southeast Asia as among “regions of concern” when it comes to the level of violence and physical harassment directed at the press.
“Filipino journalists continued to face danger in the course of their work throughout the year,” the report said.
“While violence slightly declined in 2007 – with two journalists killed clearly in connection with their work as opposed to three in 2006 – the Philippines continues to rank as one of the most dangerous places in the world for members of the press,” it added.
Exposing corruption scandals or criticizing the military or police “can prove lethal,” the analysis stressed, citing the 32 journalists killed since 1992 – “with a 90-percent impunity rate” – based on figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Both murder victims in 2007 were radio broadcasters” – in April, Carmelo Palacios of Nueva Ecija and Ferdinand Lintuan in Davao.
The analysis noted only two convictions against the perpetrators of journalist murders ever issued.
“And with unknown gunmen often hired by local government officials – no mastermind of a journalist murder has ever been held accountable,” it added.
Even with the establishment of Task Force Usig, a police task force, and the Melo Commission to probe media and activist killings, the report said, “official findings are disputed by local human rights groups, while the latter lacked any sort of enforcement capacity.”
The Freedom House analysis also noted the “general trend toward concentration of ownership since 1986” of media outlets: “Often criticized for lacking journalistic ethics, the press is likely to reflect the political or economic orientations of owners and patrons, and special interests reportedly use inducements to solicit favorable coverage.”
“Approximately 15.4 percent of the population made use of the Internet in 2007, and the government did not restrict their access,” the report added. – AP
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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