By Benjamin Pulta/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday flatly questioned the conclusions of a group of visiting foreign journalists on press freedom in the country.
“Contrary to the opinion of the visiting foreign journalists, I believe that the Philippine press is the freest in the region. Anyone can criticize or say anything against the government without fear of retaliation,” Guevarra said, as he challenged the basis for the report by representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) from the US and Alliance for Journalists Freedom (AJF) from Australia showing “increasing levels of intimidation” against Filipino journalists and “shrinking space for the free press in the country.”
The group said the cases against online news site Rappler and its chief editor, Maria Ressa, were a form of “formal and informal pressure on journalists… that appear to be politically motivated” and which “created a sense of fear throughout the media industry, leading to self-censorship.”
“Maria Ressa’s case is not reflective of the overall situation. Her cases arose from a violation of our Securities Code, which led to other cases such as tax evasion and anti-dummy charges. Her cyber libel case was initiated by a private individual, not by the government,” Guevarra pointed out.
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