EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a joint statement of student publications and media organizations of the University of Santo Tomas.
We, the student publications and media organizations of the University of Santo Tomas, strongly commit to hold the line along with other media organizations amidst the Duterte administration’s efforts to curtail the freedom of speech and expression.
As we commemorate the tenth-year anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, numerous human rights violations against journalists and media organizations still remain at large.
The arrest of community journalist Anne Krueger was one of the latest attacks on press freedom — a trend the administration is deemed to repeat regardless of criticism from local and international media. Krueger was unlawfully arrested with 56 others through simultaneous raids on various offices in Bacolod City under the pretext of communist subversion.
Minutes before her arrest, Krueger hosted a live broadcast on Facebook showing the irregularities committed by authorities through planting evidence to justify the arrest of other progressives. She is also one of the founders of Paghimutad, an alternative media organization covering the ongoing bloodshed in Negros.
Through President Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70, a Whole-of-Nation approach was used by the administration to wrongfully tag progressive groups and human rights workers as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Meanwhile, Negros-based broadcaster Dindo Generoso was the 14th journalist to be murdered under the Duterte administration and the 187th since 1986. He was shot by assailants last November 7 while driving on his way to host his radio program.
Earlier this year, the Duterte administration claimed the existence of an ouster plot that is allegedly supported by journalists, lawyers, and various critics. Organizations such as Rappler, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Metro Balita, and National Union of Lawyers in the Philippines, are one of those included in Duterte’s destabilization matrix.
In line with this, campus publications are unsafe from repression. Last November 16, an individual forcibly tried to enter the office of the Philippine Collegian, the University of the Philippine’s official student publication in order to conduct surveillance and inspections for an unknown reason.
Aside from committing human rights violations against media practitioners, the Duterte administration is notorious for utilizing massive troll farms to combat the truth. A 2017 study of the University of Oxford included the Philippines in a list of countries with governments that utilizes social media manpower to bend public opinion. Data-mining firm, Cambridge Analytica and its parent company once claimed in an already archived article that it helped rebrand Duterte as a “strong, no-nonsense man of action” that would deliver the Philippines from crime. Last month, Facebook removed various Duterte-leaning pages for violating its terms and agreements on spam and authenticity.
WE, THE CAMPUS PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS, MUST STAY TRUE TO OUR SERVICE FOR TRUTH AND OPPOSE FALSE PROPAGANDA.
American-based non-profit organization Committee to Protect Journalists declared the Maguindanao massacre as the “single deadliest event for journalists”. Ten years after its aftermath, justice is yet to be served.
As Duterte approaches his fourth term in his presidency, bloodshed and violence against the media remain prevalent.
We, campus media organizations, amidst all the efforts to curtail our freedom, should always stand firm to stand by the truth and to hold the line.
Veritas in Caritate.
SIGNATORIES
RABIN P. BOTE
President
TomasinoWeb
JOHN AARON PANGILINAN
Executive Editor
TomasinoWeb
LOUISE JULIE W. PABICO
Editor-in-Chief
College of Science Journal
BERNICE KYRENE P. GUTIERREZ
Editor-in-Chief
Accountancy Journal
PEACH ARIANNA P. MANOS
Associate Editor
The Flame
VES EVA REVLINE A. DILLA
Editor-in-Chief
La Stampa
JAMES EDVER O. MERCADO
President/Director
UST Tiger S.H.O.O.T
Patrick M. Demition
President/Artistic Director
Teatro Tomasino
Loraine B. Villarina
President
UST Literary Society
Clarence Pryce O. Almazan
President
Performing Arts Guild
Xyvel Vincent S. Niez
Editor-in-Chief
Commerce Journal
Jefson Romeo B. Felix
Editor-in-Chief
Purple Gazette
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