Palace: Rappler CEO is ‘exaggerated’

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on Monday lambasted Rapper CEO Maria Ressa of “exaggerating” the environment that journalists are operating under the Duterte administration in the Philippines.

In a statement, Panelo said the Rappler CEO is “always exaggerating.”

“It’s only a war zone to those who is involved in drugs and who resist violently any warrant of arrest being served to them or if they are subject to a buy-bust operation and they violently resist as well as imperil the lives of those law-enforcement officers,” said Panelo.

To recall, Ressa told US-based CBS News in an interview that the Philippines is “far worse than any war zone” that she has reported in, as she noted the harassment that she has endured for doing her job.

The Palace official insisted that journalists are free to do their job in the country without fear for their safety.

“That’s their belief but the fact is, every journalist, whether here or abroad, is free to cover any event in this country, and they come up alive and well,” Panelo said.

The International Federation of Journalists reported in December 2018 that the Philippines is the deadliest country for journalists in Southeast Asia following reports of threats to the press and the number of unresolved media killings in the country.

Malacañang, however, downplayed the media killings, saying that it is very likely that the journalists are killed due to personal reasons and not as a consequence of doing their jobs.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, on the other hand, said that Ressa’s arrests that were supposedly meant to “pound her into silence” were cases for the violation of the Anti-Dummy Law, tax evasion charges, and a cyber libel case filed by a private individual that have nothing to do with the administration.

“Ms. Ressa claims that she is “under attack” by the government; when in fact, she is “under investigation” due to her criminal liabilities, from which no one, not even members of the press are exempt from,” Andanar said.

“In this instance, Rappler and Ms. Ressa’s case is not an issue involving freedom of the press. This is an issue in violation of the Philippine laws which were acted upon by respective government agencies. The environment for journalists perceived by Ms. Ressa isn’t reflective of the actual environment for journalists in the Philippines,” he added.

Andanar also said that for Ressa to claim that “freedom of the press has been curtailed,” blatantly ignores President Duterte’s policies that promote the press’ freedom, rights, and security.

He said such an instance is through the government’s Administrative Order (AO) No. 1 which created the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS).