Defend Press Freedom: Fight for truth, justice and freedom

I may not always agree with Maria Ressa, Rappler  and even other media outfits but I stand with them when their rights and freedoms are violated.  Media plays a very important role in our democracy. As a blogger, I stand for the rights to free expression and to free speech.  And our first responsibility is to protect these rights.

I continue to stand with Rappler, its right to exist, the rights of its working journalists and contributors, and the rights of its community of readers.

I stand against moves to silence and scare journalists, bloggers and media practitioners just because the President and his supporters dislike their news and views. Many organizations, media groups, institutions and individuals also made a stand to defend press freedom.

“As a university, we are committed to using our resources as educators to make the truth come to light. As citizens, it is our obligation to defend the truth. In an atmosphere of fear and silence, we are obliged to speak when we see things which are not right, even if doing so can bring individuals and institutions to peril. Speaking truth can be daunting but the greater imperative is to stand our ground against those who sow fear when the truth is spoken. ” Ateneo de Manila, Office of the President

“That the Duterte administration chose to selectively apply the law to a media outfit that has been critical of its governance is an indication of the lengths it will go to silence criticism.” – excerpt, Statement of the Photojournalists’ Center of the Philipppnes (PCP)

“We, at FMA, therefore call on the Filipino public to continue to stand its ground against the creeping crackdown of the free press masked as legitimate regulation of mass media ownership. This constitutes indirect media censorship masked as regulatory oversight, with a sinister objective of silencing dissent and free expression.” , Foundation for Media Alternatives

“We will continue to hold those in power led by President Rodrigo Duterte or any other leader and their administrations accountable every time we need to. We will speak truth to power with all independent media across the Philippines.” , The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines

“The government’s insistence on pursuing the case as a continuing crime is indicative of the perverse legal gyrations it has undertaken to persecute perceived enemies, as in the cases of Sen Leila de Lima and former Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno. This government is bent on silencing the voices of women critics and activists at the forefront of the struggle against human rights violations and tyranny.”, #BabaeAko

“Maria Ressa’s arrest and the persecution of Rappler are not just a war against the website and its journalists — it is a war against truth, against the public good, against human rights, and against accountability.” Laguna Now 

“The attacks on Rappler, just like the persistent distributed denial of service (DdoS) assaults on the websites of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the alternative news sites Bulatlat, Kodao and Altermidya, are deliberate and orchestrated.” , Inday Varona

“A free press is fundamental to a democratic society. A free press serves as a faithful chronicler of contemporary events, a platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard, and, more important, the public’s watchdog of inept, abusive and corrupt governance. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to seek out and report news/information and hold those in power to account. With the same effort with which the press should seek the truth and report it, any attempt to muzzle its ability to do so should be vigorously resisted.” – UP Diliman College of Mass Communication

I will continue to fight for truth, justice and freedom.