Media wish list: Decriminalize libel, pass FOI, end red-tagging

MANILA, Philippines — Convenors of the 1st Philippine Media Safety Summit called on President Marcos to take concrete steps to support a critical press, which he said “best serves national interest.”

As Marcos delivers his third State of the Nation Address today, various media groups across the country have urged him to prioritize legislative measures that would decriminalize libel and enact a Freedom of Information Law.

“The President himself said it in April: ‘the principal role of the press is not to applaud those who govern, but you hold us accountable, without holding back in giving praise to those who deserve it. Along with that stance is our collective goal of protecting the welfare and lives of journalists,’” the convenors said.

“Now is the time for Mr. Marcos to keep his promise and include efforts to ensure a ‘truly free and safe environment for all journalists’ in his SONA legislative priority,” the group added.

The convenors likewise asked the President to make a clear stance to end red-tagging after the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in May declaring red-tagging as a threat to people’s life, liberty and security.

“Red-tagging, vilification, labelling, and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, or security, which may justify the issuance of a writ of amparo,” the high court said.

The group also pushed for the removal of a provision in the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 that includes journalists as possible witnesses in drug cases.

“For as long as this provision is not removed, journalists are at risk of being cited for contempt or subjected to arrest warrants for not showing up in courts as witnesses in drug cases,” the group said.

President Marcos, during a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in April, emphasized that “national interest is better served by a press that is critical rather than a press that is cooperative.”

Several measures have been filed before Congress seeking to decriminalize libel, which has been weaponized against journalists and used as a tool to shield public officials against criticisms and defamatory utterances.

While the former administration has issued an executive order on FOI, the measure only covers departments and offices under the executive branch.

The group said a legislated FOI, which has been supported by various business organizations and chambers of commerce, will promote transparency in government transactions regardless of whoever sits in Malacan?ang.

The statement was signed by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication Center for Community Journalism and Development College of Mass Communications-UP Diliman; Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines; Freedom for Media Freedom for All; Mindanews; National Union of Journalists of the Philippines; Peace and Conflict Journalism Network; Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and Philippine Press Institute.