A Manila-based group of journalists condemned the red-tagging and sexual harassment of a reporter by one of the lawyers in the case involving retired Army General Jovito Palparan related to the disappearance of two UP students.
A local chapter of a journalist group said it is outraged over the termination of around 200 employees of a television network a little over a week before the commemoration of the International Labor Day.
Filipino lawyers and journalists on Friday expressed condemnation on the attack against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France but some section also warned against opportunism to foment attacks on Muslim Immigrants across Europe.
Although they welcomed the surrender of a former governor tagged in the killing of a local radio broadcaster, the National Union of Journalist in the Philippines Davao urged the public and the media to be “vigilant and cautious for a possible whitewash.”
At the time of his death, Butalid was the second broadcast journalist to be killed in Tagum City since 1996.
A media watchdog said it is not expecting a mention of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill during President Benigno Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week on July 28.
Journalists welcomed the apology from Davao City police director Vicente Danao for his tirade on three reporters, but they said the city police must do away with its rough treatment on members of the press.
Two Tagum City reporters and their news director were reportedly harassed by police intelligence officers and a military spokesperson respectively, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said.
Police also drove away reporters and injured a photojournalist, Barry Ohaylan of Pinoy Weekly & Kilab Multimedia, who was bleeding in the head after being hit by a police officer.
Conde further said that with the spate of killings, “the Aquino administration needs to declare that the attacks on journalists are a national catastrophe that threatens fundamental liberties.”
