Tag: press freedom

social / media

On freedom of the press and the ABS-CBN franchise renewal

July 10, 2020 by
O

by Rep. Edcel Lagman

The freedom of the press is an overriding issue in the long-drawn renewal of the legislative franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation.

The freedom of the press, which is an integral component of the freedom of expression, is accorded primacy in the constellation of civil liberties which are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Notwithstanding occasional alleged violations by ABS-CBN in its operations, the decision of the Joint Committees on the issues of “biased reporting” and “meddling in politics” should take into consideration the relevance of the following jurisprudential pronouncements:

1. Chavez v. Gonzalez (G.R. No. 168338, February 15, 2008) penned by Chief Justice Reynaldo Puno:

“In this jurisdiction it is established that freedom of the press is crucial and so inextricably woven into the right to free speech and free expression, that any attempt to restrict it must be met with an examination so critical that only a danger that is clear and present would be allowed to curtail it.

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social / media

Not all attacks against the media are done with a gun: on the ABS-CBN franchise

July 5, 2020 by
N

I need to warn you folks that this might be kinda long.

Before I left for Iraq in 2003, I was asked repeatedly WHY, when I didn’t have to (I was in Current Affairs, I wasn’t even in News), and besides, why tempt fate (Afghanistan was just two years earlier, and we almost failed to make it out of that one).

Some even asked if it was for the hazard pay (“Ang laki siguro ng binayad sa iyo ano?”) No I did not get any hazard pay at all. Returning after a month in Iraq, I just collected my one month salary as a regular Manila-based producer. Was it the “overwhelming” support that we got during these deployments? Hardly. I bought a second hand flak jacket in Quiapo using my own money, and borrowed steel helmets from the Philippine Marines. I borrowed some money from friends and colleagues to add to our suicide budget (Thank you David Jude Sta. Ana!) and my wife also pitched in to help. In Baghdad, rival GMA’s Howie Severino was even kind enough to give me his leftover Iraqi money before they returned to Manila (I have no idea how Howie liquidated THAT expense)

I did not do it for ABS-CBN. I did it because it was something that had to be done, And sometimes, you really believe it has to be done by you. That is why it pains me whenever people throw around that “bayaran” and “presstitute” label so glibly just because they disagree with what you have to say.

Is the profession perfect? Far from it. ABS-CBN was a perfect example of our many imperfections. We fought our internal battles more times than I would care to remember, from problems with politics to problems with priorities. And in the end, I really learned to appreciate the people I worked with – the colleagues who stood by us in our many battles, and some of our immediate bosses who covered for us, or simply turned a blind eye, when we simply refused to obey. Loyalty to your profession needs to trump other loyalties. Sound noble, right? Well, sometimes, or perhaps many times, we lose our battles.

The point is to know that these are battles that we need to keep fighting.

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