Legislators from Camarines Sur led by siblings Luigi and Migz Villafuerte rally behind a Commission on Human Rights (CHR)’s push for stronger and sustained measures to protect journalists to guarantee press freedom in the country.
“The government should put a premium on both protecting journalists and improving their welfare,” the Villafuerte brothers said.
They concurred with the CHR’s position that mediamen’s safety goes beyond physical security alone, but also includes legal, digital, structural and professional protections to ensure independent and ethical reporting.
The Villafuertes said the 20th Congress can support this CHR view on best upholding press freedom by passing this time around “the bill granting media people the same rights enjoyed by their fellow workers in the government and the private sector, such as security of tenure, hazard and overtime pay, mandatory additional insurance coverage and other job-related benefits.”
They recalled that this pro-media proposal was passed by the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress, but it was not enacted into law as the Senate had failed to pass its counterpart measure.
House Bill 304, which was authored by then-Representatives and now Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte along with Rep. Migz and Hori Horibata plus the Bicol Saro party-list, was passed by the House in November 2022.
“That this proposed measure was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress, underscored the overwhelming support in the chamber at that time for improving the welfare of Filipino media workers,” Rep. Luigi said.
On the recent occasion of National Press Week this February, the CHR called for stronger and sustained measures to protect journalists and media workers, stressing that the public’s right to truth cannot be upheld while journalists continue to face threats, harassment, violence and legal intimidation in the course of their work.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Villafuertes back CHR, push better pay, benefits for journalists”
