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SEC. MARTIN ANDANAR PCOO
NEWS CORNER
Press freedom ‘very much alive’ in PH: Andanar MANILA — Media outlets in the Philippines currently enjoy press freedom under the watch of President Rodrigo Duterte, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said Tuesday. During a media engagement at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, Andanar stressed that press freedom is “very much alive” since Duterte became President in 2016.
“The Philippines enjoys a longstanding history of press freedom. This should attest that press freedom is very much alive in the Philippines,” he said. His statement came as critics slammed the current administration’s supposed attempts to curtail press freedom. Some have claimed that the alleged effort to block the renewal of local broadcast firm ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise, which expires on March 30, is clearly an issue of press freedom. Andanar said the narratives against Duterte and his administration are “written out of context, some without basis, and others, outright lies.” “There are a lot of stories criticizing the government of President Rodrigo Duterte, including issues regarding media information… It is our job to challenge and to clarify these inaccurate stories, and to simply tell the truth,” he said. Andanar denied that private media companies are under attack. He said the existence of baseless and false reports to discredit Duterte merely proves that Philippine media can freely exercise the freedom of the press.
Andanar noted that the Duterte government has created an “enabling “The fact that such articles, media environment” and a “safe reports, and accounts exist, indicates
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Caraga Infocus
February 29-March 6, 2020
