They are at it again: harassing and maliciously red-tagging journalists, including veteran journalist and AlterMidya host Inday Espina-Varona, Nonoy Espina of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews, and several others.
Flyers distributed in Cagayan de Oro City after a protest regarding the ABS-CBN franchise on February 28 portrayed NUJP as a “communist front” and questioned its legitimacy as an organization.
These are unfounded and unwarranted accusations put the red-tagged journalists at risk and mark them as targets for further attacks. The vilification reeks of desperation and comes at a time when censorship and threats to freedom of expression are escalating. Government agencies and state forces no less are leading the vilification campaigns against perceived critics of the administration.
With the NUJP unrelentingly leading the fight for press freedom – from supporting the plight of community journalists under attack to sustaining the campaign for the ABS-CBN franchise, the people behind this move are clearly against how the media and other sectors have stood united and unfazed. The people behind this new wave of attacks clearly work for forces that seek to curtail dissent and the freedom of expression. They would rather play dirty than lose the battle of public opinion to truth-bearing journalists.
We denounce this newest intimidation and attempt to silence the NUJP. We call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to stand for the truth, and support journalists in the fight for press freedom and against dangerous disinformation.
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