(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 2 August 1999 AJI press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 22 July, 13 April and 24 March 1999** INDONESIAN JOURNALISTS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY FOR JOURNALISTS STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), an organization that represents Indonesian journalists, is alarmed to hear the possibility that political motivations […]
(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 2 August 1999 AJI press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 22 July, 13 April and 24 March 1999**
INDONESIAN JOURNALISTS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY FOR JOURNALISTS STRUGGLE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), an organization that
represents Indonesian journalists, is alarmed to hear the possibility that
political motivations have compromised the freedom of the press the
Philippines. Specifically, AJI is concerned about the recent withdrawal of
advertising from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the country’s leading
newspapers. Although the withdrawal of advertising has ostensibly been
offered as a sign of support for President Estrada, who rejects publications
that provide critical news coverage, it is important to acknowledge that
first and foremost it is a direct threat to free, independent journalism in
the Philippines. Until journalists are able to report news in an unbiased
manner and can count on an environment free of intimidation and corporate
blackmail, freedom of the press will remain a democratic ideal with no base
in the Filipino reality.
Journalists in Indonesia have looked to the Philippine press as an example
of openness and have been inspired by the progressive way in which the
government of the Philippines has respected the rights of the press in the
past. Since the fall of Soeharto in May 1998, Indonesian journalists have
fought for and achieved new opportunities to increase our role as watchdogs
for the emerging democracy in our country. One of the most significant
challenges we have faced has been how to eliminate the role of political and
private interests in the coverage of the news. The current situation in the
Philippines appears to be a culmination of these two problems — political
whims and acquiescent groups within civil society (both private companies
and government agencies) who wish to fulfil their own vested interests. Here
in Indonesia we have seen that it is civil society, who ends up paying the
price of this kind of self-serving game playing, because it is common
citizens who depend upon the press as unbiased providers of information. We
appeal to the Filipino government to prevent this deterioration of free
dialogue from taking place.
AJI bases its concern on a troubling pattern of events that include the
following:
— Documented claims by Philippine movie producers that they withdrew their
advertisements from the Inquirer after receiving assurances of tax breaks
from President Estrada.
— The withdrawal of ads from three large government agencies: the Land
Bank of the Philippines, the Philippine National Bank and the Social
Security System.
— The refusal to allow two staff reporters from the Inquirer, who were
known to be responsible for the presidential beat, to attend an event last
Friday (July 30) President Estrada’s office.
— The March 1999 scandal in which President Estrada filed a libel suit
against the Manila Times in reaction to a story that linked him to a
government contract scandal. According to staff members of the paper, the
presidential palace threatened the paper’s wealthy owners with further
economic retaliation if they did not apologize for the story.
— President Estrada’s decision in June to no longer entertain questions
from print reporters, preferring instead to speak to the nation exclusively
through television and radio.
Taken together, these actions amount to troubling erosion of cooperation
between your office and Philippine newspapers. In the Philippines, with its
long tradition of a free press, aggressive print reporting often holds
government officials accountable to the public in ways that the electronic
media frequently does not. Indeed, in the period leading up to the
restoration of democracy in 1986, it was the alternative print media in the
Philippines that kept the public informed of crucial developments long
before the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos and the relaxation of
controls on the mainstream press.
As an organization of Indonesian journalists, AJI is concerned about this
decline in the Philippines’ proud heritage of free expression. We consider
economic retaliation taken by powerful officials against the media to be
inappropriate and out of step with the spirit of press freedom.
We respectfully request that President Estrada clarify his position with
regard to the Inquirer advertising boycott and publicly disavow any support
for actions taken by the movie industry or government agencies against the
newspaper. As the largest circulation newspaper in the country, it is
obvious that the movie industry and government agencies would naturally
choose to advertise with the Inquirer as they have done consistently in the
past.
We also respectfully encourage that President Estrada resume taking
questions from print reporters. It is only through open and constructive
dialogue between elected officials and the press that a free media can
flourish.
As Indonesians journalists who have only recently seen the benefits of real
press freedom, we express our solidarity and willingness to unconditionally
support the rights of journalists in the Philippines. We encourage the
journalist community, both in the Philippines, and internationally, to
reject the systematic campaign against the Inquirer, and demand that freedom
of the press be restored to its fullest form by President Estrada.
Jakarta, August 2, 1999
Lukas Luwarso
Chairperson
Dadang RHs
Secretary
