Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recorded 20 cases of journalists killed while working during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to 2022.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 12 March 2025.
Former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested as part of an International Criminal Court investigation into crimes against humanity linked to his merciless war on drugs. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recalls that 20 journalists were killed during his presidency, a 6-year term marked by a fierce repression of the press. The NGO calls on the administration of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to take strong measures to fully restore the country’s press freedom and combat impunity for the crimes against the media committed by Rodrigo Duterte’s regime.
“Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch.” Rodrigo Duterte’s inauguration speech on 30 June 2016 set the tone for the rest of his mandate: unrestrained violence against journalists and total disregard for press freedom.
In the six years that Rodrigo Duterte led the country, RSF recorded 20 cases of journalists killed while working. Among them was Jesus Yutrago Malabanan, shot dead after covering Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war for Reuters. Online harassment surged, particularly targeting women journalists. The most prominent victim was Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the news site Rappler, who faced an orchestrated hate campaign led by troll armies allied with the government in response to her commitment to exposing the then-president’s bloody war.
Media outlets critical of President Duterte’s authoritarian excesses were systematically muzzled: the country’s leading television network, ABS-CBN, was forced to shut down; Rappler and Maria Ressa faced repeated lawsuits; and a businessman close to the president took over the country’s leading newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, raising concerns over its editorial independence.
“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is good news for the Filipino journalism community, who were the direct targets of his campaign of terror. President Marcos and his administration must immediately investigate Duterte’s past crimes and take strong measures to fully restore the country’s press freedom.”
Cédric Alviani Director, RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau
The repression carried out during Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure continues to impact Filipino journalism: investigative journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio has been languishing in prison since her arrest in 2020, still awaiting a verdict in her trial for “financing terrorism” and “illegal possession of firearms” — trumped-up charges that could see her sentenced to 40 years in prison.
With 147 journalists murdered since the restoration of democracy in 1986, the Philippines remains one of the deadliest countries for media workers. The archipelago ranked 134th out of 180 in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
