Philippines / Asia

  
Maria Ressa leaves the Rappler office after being served an arrest warrant in Pasig City, Philippines, on February 13, 2019. (Reuters/Eloisa Lopez)

CPJ condemns arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa on cyber libel charge

Bangkok, February 13, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Philippine authorities to immediately release and drop all pending charges against Maria Ressa, executive editor and founder of the critical news website Rappler.

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Vehicles on a highway heading to the port in Matnog, Sorsogon, the Philippines, on December 17, 2017. A radio broadcaster was killed in Sorsogon City on January 9, 2018. (AFP/Charism Sayat)

Radio broadcaster killed under suspicious circumstances in the Philippines

Bangkok, January 11, 2018–Philippine authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of Filipino news broadcaster John Michael Decano and bring the assailant to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Maria Ressa, founder and editor of the Philippine news site Rappler, accepting CPJ's International Press Freedom Award on November 20, 2018. Ressa and Rappler are facing increasing legal harassment by the Philippine government. (Getty Images/Dia Dipasupil)

Philippines piles on legal threats against critical news site Rappler

Bangkok, November 29, 2018–Philippine prosecutors have in recent days filed five separate tax cases against critical news site Rappler, including criminal charges that may allow for the arrest of the site’s founder and editor Maria Ressa, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the escalated campaign of legal harassment and calls on…

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CPJ, RSF call on Philippines to end its persecution of Rappler and Maria Ressa

CPJ and RSF call on the Philippine prosecutor general to end the legal harassment of Rappler and the website’s founder and executive editor, Maria Ressa.

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Maria Ressa, right, CEO of Rappler, an online news agency, addresses a rally of journalists and supporters during a protest against the Securities and Exchange Commission's order to revoke its registration on January 19, 2018, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Philippine authorities in November 2018 threatened to charge Ressa and Rappler with tax evasion. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

CPJ condemns Philippines’ threat to indict critical site Rappler on tax evasion charges

Bangkok, November 12, 2018–The Philippine authorities said on Friday they had grounds to indict news site Rappler, known for its critical coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte, and its founder Maria Ressa for tax evasion and failure to file tax returns, news reports said. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the threat and called on authorities…

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A tribute to victims of an April 2018 suicide attack in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, that killed at least nine journalists. (AP/Rahmat Gul)

Getting Away with Murder

CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Impunity is entrenched in 14 nations, according to CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index, which ranks states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.

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A foot-powered trolley moves along a railroad track in Manila on July 31, 2018. Five journalists were detained and at least one reporter was attacked by police and private security guards while they were covering a workers' protest in Bulacan province's Meycauayan City, according to reports. (AFP/Noel Celis)

Filipino journalists beaten, arrested while covering labor strike

Bangkok, August 1, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the detention of five Filipino journalists and the attack on at least one reporter by police and private security guards in Bulacan province’s Meycauayan City and called for an independent investigation that brings the perpetrators to justice.

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his State of the Nation address on July 23, 2018. A Filipino radio reporter was shot multiple times and died from his injuries on July 20 in the town of Daraga, in the country's central Albay province, according to reports. (Reuters/Czar Dancel)

Radio broadcaster killed in the Philippines

Bangkok, July 23, 2018–A Filipino radio reporter was shot multiple times and died from his injuries on July 20 in the town of Daraga, in the country’s central Albay province, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing and called on Philippine authorities to swiftly identify and bring the perpetrators…

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A rally calling for greater press freedom in Manila in January 2018. Philippine journalists say President Rodrigo Duterte is trying to intimidate the media. (AFP/Ted Aljibe)

Mission Journal: Duterte leads tri-pronged attack on press amid condemnation of controversial policies

Pia Randa is in Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte’s crosshairs. At presidential press conferences, Duterte has repeatedly singled out the reporter by name and referred to Rappler, the news site where she works, as “fake news” and her reporting as “corrupt” and “biased” against his administration.

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Rush hour in Manila on June 21, 2016. Unidentified assassins on June 23, 2018, gunned down Manuel Lacsamana, a contributor to the local monthly The Media Messenger and chairperson of the Central Luzon Media Association press group, in Cabanatuan City, in the Nueva Ecija province on the island of Luzon, according to reports. (Reuters/Erik De Castro)

Newspaper reporter gunned down in the Philippines

New York, June 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of Manuel Lacsamana, a contributor to the local monthly The Media Messenger and chairperson of the Central Luzon Media Association press group, and called on authorities in the Philippines to identify the killers and swiftly bring them to justice.

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