THE Philippines is out of the top five most dangerous countries for journalists in 2018, according to the annual report of the media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders.
Based on RSF’s annual worldwide round-up figures released on Wednesday, the top five deadliest countries for media this year are Afghanistan, Syria, Mexico, India and the United States.
Afghanistan was the deadliest country with 15 killed, followed by Syria and Mexico with 11 and nine, respectively, while India had six journalists killed in 2018.
The bloody shooting of the Capital Gazette newspaper’s five employees in June placed the US for the first time in the top five with a total of six killed journalists.
The RSF’s report showed that 80 journalists were killed this year compared with 65 in 2017, 348 are in prison and 60 are being held hostage.
The Philippines, which was among the top five most dangerous countries for media last year, had three journalists killed this year based on RSF’s report.
The RSF list include Joey Llana of DwZR Radio from Albay who was killed on July 20; Dennis Denora of Trends and Times from Panabo City (June 7); and Edmund Sestoso of DyGB 91.7 from Dumaguete City (May 1).
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar attributed the country’s delisting to President Rodrigo Duterte’s show of concern to the country’s Fourth Estate.
Duterte has dedicated his first Administrative Order for the creation of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security on Oct. 11, 2016.
Andanar said the PTFoMS’ creation “has resulted in the relentless pursuit of justice for journalists who were killed in the exercise of their duty, and the security of those media men and women who have been harassed and threatened.”
“We will continue to work hard for the safety of our journalists in the name of Press Freedom. There is no stopping the present administration from defending the rights of journalists who are vulnerable to threats, often in direct reprisal for their reporting,” Andanar said in a statement.
“The PTFoMS shall relentlessly give attention to the protection of journalists and other media workers to end the culture of impunity that has long hounded the ranks of the country’s Fourth Estate.”
Andanar and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra are co-chairman and chairman, respectively, of PTFoMS, while Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, a former president of the country’s largest media group, the National Press Club, is the task force’s executive director.
In a statement, the PTFoMS credited the remarkable achievement to the hard work and commitment of the task force to provide a safe working environment for journalists throughout the country.
“This achievement is a testament to the hard work and commitment of the PTFoMS to fulfill its mandate of protecting the life, liberty and security of media workers,” the statement read.
The task force vowed to be “relentless” in the pursuit of justice for media workers, who have been victims of violence in the exercise of their calling.
“We will continue to work hard for them and exhaust all efforts to uphold Press Freedom.”
