Duterte tirades vs media no threat to press freedom, Palace says

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades against the Philippine media do not threaten their ability to report, Malacañang said on Thursday, a day after an international media watchdog noted a dip in the country’s ranking in its press freedom index.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that it is just natural for the chief executive to answer “untrue” stories supposedly published in media.

He added that Duterte’s criticisms, which have been accompanied by harsh words and threats to sue owners of media outlets, are just part of the “marketplace of ideas.”

“Our record will stand for itself. We have taken steps to protect the lives of journalists. We have not sent any reporter to jail,” Roque said in a press conference in the palace.

READ: How the Presidential Task Force on Media Security works

“You cannot expect the president to not answer when you are already turning him into a punching bag. If you make him a punching bag, our president will answer,” he added.

Better ranking than before Duterte

Roque also pointed at a silver lining in the Philippine ranking in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

He said that the country’s ranking in 2018, which slid from 127^th to 133^rd, was still an improvement of the ranking of the Philippines when the Duterte administration took over.

In 2015, the Philippines placed 141st in 2015 and 138th in 2016.

The government is also addressing the killing of journalists as shown by the establishment of the Task Force on Media Security that monitored cases of media violence and provided legal assistance to victims and their families.

Despite the creation of the task force, Duterte has launched verbal, and some say legal, attacks on critical media outfits in the Philippines.

The Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the corporate license of online news outfit Rappler supposedly because of its violations of the constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership of media companies.

The revocation stemmed from the letter of Jose Calida, the government’s solicitor general.

The palace has also disallowed the entry of Rappler’s reporter into the presidential grounds because of untrue reports it has published on Duterte and his men.

Duterte last year also launched verbal attacks against ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer supposedly for their unfair reporting.

He threatened the owners of the Inquirer with tax cases stemming from a piece of property in Makati City while he lambasted ABS-CBN, the country’s biggest television network, and threatened to block the renewal of its congressional license.

Despite these, the palace has repeatedly denied that the government is moving against the local press.

For example, Roque said that Rappler could still report on events involving the president and the palace although its reporter, Pia Ranada, was still barred from its grounds and any of Duterte’s events.

He admitted though that reporters who were still allowed to cover in the palace were in a better position as they could access and talk to the president and their subjects.