A government regulator orders the closure of a media company which continues to take an unflinchingly critical stance towards the state and its policies. A news website crashes in a cyberattack minutes after publishing a story about undeclared assets belonging to the highest official in the land.
There is a pattern here, and it is a disturbing one.
We’ve seen this before: just half a century ago, dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and ordered the closure of media organizations it deemed uncooperative to its idea of a New Society. Journalists then were faced with a difficult choice: eat their principles and become cogs in the Marcos propaganda machine, or go underground and give voice to the people through the alternative press.
Yet here we are, days into 2018, finding ourselves at the edges of a brewing storm of repression aimed squarely at the media.
We must fight, for our actions now will decide the fate of the free press in this country. Democracy — that imperfect but indispensable mechanism that grants us sovereignty over the institutions that govern our lives — is a very fragile creature, and to survive it needs freedom of expression as its water, and dissent as its food.
The moment we allow any societal force — be it the state, public apathy, or ignorance of media’s role in society — to impinge on either freedom of expression or dissent, is the moment we allow democracy to die.
We must never let that happen.
The UP Journalism Club stands with our comrades in media, and declares its vehement opposition to anyone who dares trample on the freedom of the press in this nation. An attack is an attack, whether or not it is couched in legalese or financial jargon.
Let the powerful know that our organization, the media of this country, and the Filipino people will never tolerate another dictatorship.
#DefendPressFreedom
