Philippine Media Status: 32 years after EDSA 1

According to Edson C. Tandoc Jr., of Nanyang Technological University, The

Philippines is consistently ranked as among the most dangerous countries for
journalists. His newly published study explores what journalists in the Philippines
consider to be the most important problem they face, and what factors affect such
perceptions.

THE PHILIPPINE MEDIA are predominantly owned and controlled by

corporations whose use of these instruments of mass communication to defend and
advance their political agenda and economic interests is a major factor in the way
the press, whether in broadcasting and print media or online sites, frames its
reporting. Together with such personal limitations as low skills levels due to poor or
inadequate training, this creates a conflict between corporate and public interests
which often subjects practitioners to such ethical and professional dilemmas as
biased, distorted, incomplete, and even inaccurate reports.

The corruption that for decades has been a subject of concern among
journalists and media advocacy groups is also a contributing factor to the way events
and issues of public concern are presented through the media. In some
communities, journalists are not paid salaries but are expected to survive through
advertising commissions. It is a practice that is also taking hold among some media
organizations in the National Capital Region. Additionally, the continuing attacks
against, and the harassment and killing of journalists have diminished practitioner
capacity to report accurately and fairly on such issues, if they have not been forced
to altogether abandon reporting on public sector corruption and wrongdoing,
environmental destruction, and warlordism, among other public concerns.

The practitioners in both traditions are vulnerable and have been subjected to
such other attempts to prevent them from doing their jobs as being refused access to
press conferences, whenever they are perceived to be unsympathetic to, say, a local
government official; being listed in the local military's order of battle; or their
organizations’ being named among the enemies of the state, and being denied
access to government-held information.
 A government media system is also in place, but suffers from extremely
limited reach, low practitioner skills levels, and low credibility, primarily because it is
correctly perceived as biased for whatever administration is in power and as in effect
being its public relations arm rather than as serving as a means of providing reliable
information on government policies, decisions and other official acts. Financially the
system is dependent on Congress and the President through annual appropriations
in the General Appropriations Act. The system has the as yet unrealized potential to
fill the gaps and the professional failings in the reporting of the corporate media.

CORAZON AQUINO ADMINISTRATION

1986 – 1992

According to the Reporters Without Borders, in dealing with the media, Aquino
was “uncomfortable with it but managed to deal with it conscious of the vital role of
media in a democracy.”

She, however, filed a libel case against journalist Luis Beltran over his column
that said Aquino hid under the bed during one mutiny in August 1987. The National
Telecommunications Council, in 1989, also ordered the closure of two radio stations
for airing “rebel propaganda” but the orders were eventually lifted the same month.

At least 21 journalists were killed under her administration, according to data

from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

RAMOS ADMINISTRATION (1992 – 1998)

Reporters Without Borders also said that the administration of Fidel V. Ramos
recognized the role of the media in pursuing and upholding democracy.

However, CMFR monitoring showed that at least 11 members of the media

were killed under the Ramos administration.

ESTRADA ADMINISTRATION (1998 – 2001)

 In 1999, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) saw itself at the receiving end of
pressure when it was openly criticized by Estrada for alleged bias.

At least 6 media people were killed during the short-lived Estrada

administration, CMFR data shows.

ARROYO ADMINISTRATION (2001 – 2010)

The administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was marred by libel suits, a

raid, and the single deadliest attack against the media.

Meanwhile, then first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo actively filed libel suits
against the press over articles linking him to alleged wrongdoing. He filed a total of
50 cases against 46 journalists, according to the Philippine Center for Investigative
Journalism.

In fact, in November 2006, then Malacañang reporter (and now Rappler

editor) Mia Gonzales was nearly arrested while inside the Palace grounds in relation
to a libel case filed by Arroyo against her over a 2004 Newsbreak report.

More than 8 years later, none of the 188 accused have been convicted.

Many groups refer to the Arroyo administration as the period when media
killings peaked post-Marcos. Data from CMFR shows that 83 media workers were
killed from 2001 to 2010.

BENIGNO AQUINO III ADMINISTRATION (2010 – 2016)

While there was no concrete policy or action against the media, then
president Benigno Aquino III was known for his constant appeals to the press for
“balanced” reporting.

The problem, however, lies in the huge number of journalists killed under his
administration.
 At least 31 members of the press were killed during the Aquino presidency –
2nd to Arroyo in terms of magnitude post-Marcos – according to data from the
CMFR.

DUTERTE ADMINISTRATION (2016 – present)

Even before President Duterte took his oath of office in 2016, he was known
to have a “colorful” relationship with the media.

In a press conference in May 2016, he said that journalists are legitimate

targets of assassination “if you're a son of a bitch.”

On December 14, 2016, the Office of the Solicitor General wrote the SEC,
asking it to investigate Rappler over its Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs).

Rappler, however, assured its readers that it will continue to operate as it files
the necessary motions for reconsideration with the courts.

Meanwhile, according to data from the CMFR, 4 journalists have been killed
so far under the Duterte administration. This is only a part of a huge culture of
impunity dominating the Philippines.

A total of 156 journalists were killed 32 years after EDSA 1.

There is strong popular support for a free media among Filipinos. In part, this
is because of a tradition of a fighting, anti-colonial press. Successive waves of
coloniser: the Spaniards, the Americans, and the Japanese during World War II,
used the press in pursuit of the colonial agenda and imposed stringent censorship.
However, a series of anti-colonial movements also employed clandestine
newspapers in their fight against the colonial masters. To this day, the samizdat
tradition remains strong, with anti-government groups continuing to publish
underground papers or, since the Internet, putting up guerrilla Websites. The
Philippine media are the products of a turbulent history, reflecting the upheavals and
changes that have shaken the country since the advent of colonialism in the 16th
century. They have been shaped by a succession of colonial regimes, which
implanted in the Philippines a press system much like those in the United States.
The aspirations and ambitions of the Filipino elites also moulded the media.

LINKS:

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/193882-threats-attacks-philippines-media-
timeline

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/overview-mass-media-situation-philippines-rene-
guioguio

http://journalismresearchnews.org/article-the-problems-that-filipino-journalists-face/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/214455/the-state-of-philippine-
media-25-years-after-edsa/story/

http://www.cenpeg.org/2016/gov/august2016/LUIS%20TEODORO%20State%20of%
20Philippine%20Media%20&%20Policy%20Reforms%20SoP.pdf