World Press Freedom Day

Herbie Gomez .

TODAY is World Press Freedom day. As you read this, journalists and representatives of various civil society and professional associations, including academics and judiciary members, have probably started the last day of their discussions on the state of press freedom in various regions and countries during a three-day symposium in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Around the world, there are over 100 similar events taking place today to mark the celebration, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Also being tackled is the role of media in elections and democracy in the ongoing Addis Ababa symposium where one of those in attendance is Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay. Participants will also include representatives of civil society, media organizations, professional associations, academia and the judiciary.

In Metro Manila, media groups have organized a “Freedom Festival” that includes a forum on the state of the Philippine media, dubbed as “Freedom for Media, Freedom for All,” in Quezon City this morning. A demonstration has been scheduled at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo, and there will be a free online screening of “Portraits of Mosquito Press” by JL Burgos. Later today will be the launch of a video for change impact toolkit at the UP Cine Adarna Videotheque by Active Vista, Dakila and Engage Media, and the Freedom Festival Jam at the Eton Centris Walk in Quezon City. I’m not sure if a similar celebration has been organized by any media group in Cagayan de Oro today.

I’m glad to note that in the Unesco-supported event in Addis Ababa, an academic conference on the safety of journalists has been included to allow experts from different disciplines to share and discuss recent research. Such is needed in order to bridge the gap between academic research, policy-making and journalism.

Anywhere in the world, journalists are discussing the emergence of a “new” form of threat on press freedom. In these discussions, the Philippines, I’m sure, has taken center stage. The reason for this is because of the brazen state-backed bullying and demonization of the Philippine free press, disinformation or the peddling of so-called “fake news,” and the weaponization of social media against journalists and just about anyone who criticizes the Duterte administration.

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Late last month, sexagenarian Bienvenido Tulfo lashed out at popular singer Regine Velasquez who took to Twitter to express anger over Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s downplaying of the massive illegal harvest of giant clams in the Scarborough Shoal by the Chinese.

Tulfo came to Locsin’s defense by telling Velasquez to shut up because, to him, the singer did not know what she was talking about and should keep off foreign relations or politics. He then insulted her by stating that she should focus on her singing instead.

Velasquez is a singer, yes, but she is a Filipino citizen, too. This Tulfo is wrong. She doesn’t need to study foreign relations to understand that China has been encroaching on Philippine territory.

As a citizen, of course, she has every right to speak her mind. Or has the Duterte gumshield convinced itself that it alone has the ability to think and speak what comes from its… well, that which has the semblance of the human mind?

Does it really think it is a special citizen and that Filipino singers are incapable of using human brains, and cannot speak out?

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how mouthpieces of this administration bully critical citizens into silence. Pastilan.