Altermidya Network applauds the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression for visiting detained community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, as well as church worker Marielle Domequil and human rights defender Alexander Abinguna in Tacloban City Jail on January 27.
 
Despite the government’s incessant red-tagging and smear campaign against Frenchie Mae, UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan pursued the visit, and made the time to meet various other media and human rights groups experiencing various threats from state forces.
 
Altermidya also countered the statement released by the Western Visayas Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC) in relation to the special rapporteur’s jail visit to the detained journalist. RTF6-ELCAC spokesperson Flosemer Chris Gonzales responded with a statement saying the UN expert “must be reminded that the outcome of the trial of any case pending before Philippine courts is not subject to speculation, conclusion, and/or any ideologically based assumption.”
 
The relentless red-tagging and vilification by the NTF-ELCAC, however, contradicts Gonzales’ statement, especially as this practice often leads to the further attacks against citizens calling for reforms. It is not a secret that the state freely persecutes human rights defenders by weaponizing the law against its perceived enemies.
 
Frenchie Mae along with the rest of the ‘Tacloban 5’, for instance, was red-tagged months before being arrested and charged with fabricated cases.
 
If a simple observation by Khan on conditions faced by Cumpio is enough to upset the Philippine government, then what does that say about the true state of free expression and press freedom in the country?
 
It seems that the only “direct insult” was asking Khan to know her place in the country when it is the NTF-ELCAC and its dangerous mandate that has no room in the Philippines.
 
During the dialogue with Special Rapporteur Khan in Tacloban, the organizations also revealed how the arrest of the ‘Tacloban 5’ further emboldened state security forces to further curtail the people’s right to freely express opinion and dissent in Eastern Visayas.
 
Youth leaders and campus publications reported on ongoing incidents of surveillance, harassment, and threats by police and military in the region. The right to organize and hold protests is also stifled by efforts to harass and red-bait students, even within the confines of campuses.
 
The groups who met with SR Khan also explained the use of ‘fake surrenderees’ by the National Task Force to End Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), a scheme that involved coercing individuals to act as witnesses against detained rights defenders like Frenchie Mae.
 
NUJP Leyte vice chairperson, Fred Padernos, also debunked statements made by the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) claiming that the agency is acting on cases filed by journalists. Padernos cited the case of three journalists from San Juanico TV who were threatened by gunshots by police while interviewing farmers in Pastrana, Leyte in July 2023. “It was the PTFoMS that said that we should just settle the case with the police officers,” Padernos said.
 
Altermidya is optimistic that the jail visit and dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur in Tacloban will draw attention not just on the unjust imprisonment of our colleague, Frenchie Mae, but on the overall dire state of free expression and opinion in the Philippines.

The network shares the call of community journalists and human rights workers in demanding an end to threats and red-tagging against journalists and human rights defenders throughout the country. It reiterates its demand to hold accountable those who continue to incite violence and spread false information against journalists, critics, and citizens working to uphold free expression and other fundamentals rights in the Philippines. #