CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has sought the help of Mayor Oscar Moreno against the attacks on media practitioners and organizations here.
Pamela Jay Orias, a reporter of Sunstar Cagayan de Oro and Chair of NUJP’s local chapter, said their group’s national and local officers talked with Moreno on Saturday, July 13, regarding the cases of threats and harassment against her and fellow media workers.
“He (Moreno) said the NUJP and the city government must work together to put a stop to this,” she shared at the sidelines of the Mindanao Media Safety Conference which was attended by media workers and NUJP chapters across the country.
Orias was referring to the graphic– among other concerns raised — that was posted on Facebook (FB) Page, Quiet No More PH, on July 12. The post stated: “Warning: Beware of these people and organizations. They are protectors of the CPP-NPA terrorists.”
She was one of those accused.
“It’s baseless because I am not a protector of any Communist group. My media organization, my friends, and family can vouch for me,” she said. This “red-tagging,” Orias added, is “clearly a shame campaign launched by some entities on the social media.”
Orias is among the recent victims of this terrorist-tagging, along with Davao Today columnist Margarita Valle who was nabbed by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detention Group (CIDG) in Laguindangan Airport last June. Valle was released by the CIDG out of “a case of mistaken identity,” after almost 12 hours of detention and incommunicado.
Meanwhile, a few weeks ago, other journalists were tagged as Communist supporters in a post from another FB page. The incident has been reported to the FB administrator and NUJP hoped that such pages will be immediately removed.
Last May, streamers accusing NUJP and other organizations as Communist supporters were hanged on the fence of the Press Freedom Monument.
The group has asked Mayor Moreno to tap the police and village watchmen to arrest onsite those responsible for the posters and other materials that contain malicious and unfounded statements against the media.(davaotoday.com)
