Articles by Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Journalists’ union website, critical of media clampdown, allegedly hacked
(CMFR/IFEX) – The website of a popular national journalists’ union, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), which has been actively publishing statements against the recent government’s crackdown on media, was allegedly hacked by unknown parties during the first week of March 2006, resulting in its temporary shutdown. The NUJP website (http://www.nujp.org) could […]
President Arroyo lifts state of emergency; “The Daily Tribune” publisher and two columnists face charges of inciting sedition
(CMFR/IFEX) – An editor-publisher and two of her newspaper’s columnists were charged with allegedly inciting sedition, just moments after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted the state of national emergency or Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017) on the morning of 3 March 2006. According to the Department of Justice, operatives from the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and […]
Media targeted under state of emergency; newspaper occupied by police, TV stations “protected” by military
(CMFR/IFEX) – Exactly 20 years after the restoration of democracy and press freedom in the country, local media is again under threat since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national emergency via Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017) early in the morning of 24 February 2006. Several hours after the declaration of PP1017, elements of the […]
Reporter covering shantytown dismantlement harassed by police chief
(CMFR/IFEX) – A reporter covering the demolition of illegal housing units (shanties) along a national highway was allegedly harassed by a local police chief on 9 February 2006 in Malolos, Bulacan, located about 40 kilometers north of the nation’s capital, Manila. In a complaint forwarded to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), reporter […]
Photojournalist’s murder may have been perpetrated by intelligence agent; authorities promise investigation
(CMFR/IFEX) – The government’s national security adviser Norberto Gonzales vowed on 9 November 2005 to broaden the investigation of photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag’s killing, following reports that the gunman may have been an intelligence agent. Lumawag, a photojournalist for the online news service MindaNews, was shot along with his editor in war-torn Jolo, Sulu, after […]
Call for action on one-year anniversary of radio broadcaster’s murder
(CMFR/IFEX) – On the first-year anniversary commemoration of the murder of radio broadcaster Herson Hinolan, families and colleagues appealed to the government for a prompt prosecution in the case. Hinolan, station manager and hard-hitting commentator for Bombo Radio dyIN, died in a hospital on 15 November 2004, two days after he was repeatedly shot as […]
Court orders arrest of two suspects in connection with radio commentator’s murder
(CMFR/IFEX) – A local court has ordered the arrest of two suspects in connection with the 3 July 2005 murder of radio commentator Rolando Morales in General Santos City. In a 28 October resolution, Judge Eddie Rojas of the General Santos regional trial court ordered the immediate arrest of suspects Federico Saripa Jr. and Sanny […]
Radio journalist tops terrorist group’s hit list
(CMFR/IFEX) – The terrorist group Abu Sayyaf (ASG) is reportedly hot on the trails of prominent personalities, including some members of the local media, in Zamboanga City. In a letter sent to local radio stations in Zamboanga City and nearby towns during the second week of November 2005, the group said that it has dispatched […]