Death of Truth

In our country doomed by the seemingly never-ending greed, the ambitious cravings of the self-centered public officials had our journalists bearing the cross of suffering, pressure, and torment upon their shoulders, walking through the path of uncertainties; barefooted on the ruthless road of intimidation. Slashed with the whips of heavy loads and responsibilities to reveal the truth yet being condemned by the threats of libel.

The wealthy and privileged have harassed media personnel using libel. It also cannot be disputed that many journalists have been the target of libel lawsuits filed solely for the purpose of threatening or suppressing them after they uncovered unscrupulous public figures. In fact, the governor of Camarines Norte, Edgardo Tallado, issued a cyber libel lawsuit against two local journalists, which resulted in their confinement for six hours. This case started as a result of posts the journalists made independently on their own social media accounts denouncing both corruption and the local government's alleged incompetence in responding to COVID-19.

This is only one of the several disconsolated cases that we should not only pay attention to, but end. For in the service of the public, truth, and justice, nothing must stand in the way but journalists opposing what must be challenged and expressing what must be said. If our watchdogs face the danger of what’s past our government’s premises, all the worse hurdles in the path of progress wait, kill, and detonate the press. If only they are valued enough, the movement and platform that we use to raise the oppressed voice will never be taken for granted.

This is why there is an emerging movement to decriminalize libel because libel is a crime in the Philippines, and many journalists have long called for it to be made less of one because it hinders press freedom and free expression. As mentioned by Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on free expression, journalists who criticize public figures are often subjected to criminal libel laws taken advantage of by public officials. She then urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration to remove the criminalization of libel, drop the accusations against Maria Ressa, overturn the rulings against Bulatlat, and Pinoy Weekly, and conduct thorough and comprehensive investigations into all those attacks against journalists.

The thing is, in this country where journalists are being condemned as peddlers of false information, a lot of people, particularly the fanatics of government officials, believe that such peddlers are those who expose the dark sides of an administration. They argue that revealing the truth, no matter how trustworthy, impedes economic growth. As a result, it is evident that most threats are political-related and the previous administration has even normalized them by issuing hateful statements against critics and encouraging skepticism against the media.

For this reason, the criminalization of libel poses a significant concern in today's media climate as journalists could only establish credibility by delivering objective and truthful content to the public. Thus, as it exists at every possible moment and every imaginable place, journalism in the Philippines faces the danger of failing to practice the cornerstones of free expression.

If only politicians learn to accept that media stories from all news media channels are not meant to destroy them, then the philippine media doesn’t have to worry about the attacks that dictate all other hurdles in the path of journalists. It is the incompetent government that should worry who has grown afraid of those whose eyes are open— the very people whom we should have been working with to serve the masses. Those are the self-centered officials who have grown sensitive in spilling the truth, hence using libel cases to take advantage and get their revenge.

Indeed, we have been battling against the enemies who bend the truth, yet it’s growing worse as spreading lies with their shameful intentions unveils how brazen these officials are. And all this time since the very birth of democracy, risen the very people that target to distort reality as much as lies loath the rays of journalists. With our era most vulnerable to corruption, isn’t today the right time to act? Truth is what makes our reality. So what do we do now when the very watchdogs are being strangled to silence?

The government must fully realize that objective reporting is not a danger but rather a necessity for a democracy that upholds social justice. It will need more work to investigate attacks on journalists and successfully prosecute those responsible in order to make that point apparent. Now it is up to them to take action to enforce the dismissal of ongoing criminal libel proceedings and provide journalists who have been detained under the terms of the libel legislation a fresh start. It is now up to the Philippines to end the horrors that strangle journalists along with threats that boost the government’s drive to rob us off right before our very eyes.