US report: Red-tagging, journalist...

was killed because of his reporting.

In November, the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed murder charges against suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag, deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta and 10 other prisoners after the selfconfessed gunman linked them to Mabasa’s killing. Five journalists were killed between October 2021 and June 2022, reports said.

Cases filed

In March, Daily Tribune correspondent and Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club president

Aldwin Quitasol survived an attack by two unidentified assailants in Baguio City.

Expressing outrage over media harassment, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility said red tagging was part of the blame as it “endangers victims, including journalists, of being hauled to court on trumped up charges.”

The center also cited five incidents of surveillance, including police visits and vehicle tailing.

In its report the center said state agents, including local and national government officials and security and law enforcement personnel, were the leading perpetrators of threats and violence against media.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) noted that NTFELCAC openly called several journalists communist allies, “leading to a barrage of online harassment and threats against media workers.”

Meanwhile, the Philippines has defended its human rights record before the UN as it told the Special Rapporteur during a recent dialogue in Geneva that it values the role of human rights defenders as partners in building just and humane societies.

The Philippines said it acknowledges their role in “speaking truth to power and holding duty-bearers accountable for excesses and lapses.”

The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN and International Organizations in Geneva participated in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders held on March 15 as part of the 52nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council.

The Philippine Mission said the Philippines has a thriving and highly participative democratic space, with over 100,000 registered nonprofit organizations, 60,000 of which are engaged in socio-political advocacy waork domestically and in the UN. g