Philippines faces call for UN rights inquiry into war-on-drugs killings
Amnesty International is calling Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on drugs a “systematic campaign of killing”. It wants the United Nations to investigate what it says are unlawful...
View ArticleDuterte accused of ‘creating conditions’ leading to martial law declaration
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk The Asia-Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) has condemned a recent spate of killings in Negros and all extrajudicial killings in the...
View ArticleFilipino human rights lawyer uninjured after gunmen ambush car
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk A Filipino human rights lawyer has come away uninjured after unidentified motorcyclists fired gunshots into her car on the central Philippines island of Panay, reports The...
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Rappler challenges president’s ‘media powers’ in democracy fight back
By David Robie in Manila Rappler, the innovative online publisher that has been at the media freedom frontline in the Philippines for the past three years, has challenged President Rodrigo Duterte by...
View ArticleRSF calls on Philippines Congress to renew ABS-CBN network’s franchise
Pacific Media Watch Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Philippine parliamentarians to resist President Rodrigo Duterte’s threats and ensure the survival of ABS-CBN, the country’s leading TV...
View ArticleRights groups, journalists condemn Duterte bid to shut key TV network
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila New York-based Human Rights Watch has led a barrage of condemnation against the Duterte government’s “assault on media freedom” by filing a court petition to void the...
View ArticlePhilippines defence chief breaks silence on post-pact US ties
By JC Gotinga in Manila After days of silence, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana today finally made a public statement on the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US, saying...
View ArticlePriests post bail in Philippines ‘Bikoy’ videos sedition case
By Joenner Paulo L. Enriquez and Ma. Alena O. Castillo in Manila Thomasian priests Fr Albert Alejo and Fr Flaviano Villanueva have posted P10,000 (NZ$310) bail each after a judge issued a warrant of...
View ArticleRappler co-founder questions ‘guns blazing’ legal attack on top network
Pacific Media Watch The Philippines top state lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the country’s key television broadcaster with “guns blazing” but he ought to be devoting more effort on governance, says...
View Article‘We’ve done nothing wrong,’ says ABS-CBN chief and will answer allegations
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Lopez Katigbak has broken his silence amid the controversy over renewal of the Philippine TV giant’s broadcast franchise, which expires...
View ArticleDuterte on new ABS-CBN franchise: ‘I’ll cross the bridge when I get there’
President Rodrigo Duterte administers the oath of office to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) officials in a ceremony at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang Palace on February 26, 2020....
View ArticleOpposition senator challenges top Duterte aide in TV network row
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has dismissed comments by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that “politics” is behind the filing of a proposed...
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Maria Ressa named among Time’s most influential women of century
By Rappler in Manila Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is among Time‘s “100 Women of the Year”, the news magazine has revealed ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday. Time‘s “100 Women of the Year,” a list...
View ArticleDuterte rejects Metro Manila coronavirus lockdown for now
By Sofia Tomacruz in Manila President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected calls to place Metro Manila on lockdown after health officials recorded a spike in Covid-19 novel coronavirus cases. In a late night...
View ArticleDuterte cabinet members in self-quarantine amid coronavirus fears
By Sofia Tomacruz in Manila Several cabinet members of the Duterte government are placing themselves under quarantine in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19, while serving...
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Shut down Philippines TV network journalist tells of ‘the unthinkable’
Rappler justice reporter Lian Buan talks to ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo who broke the report about the shutdown. Video: Rappler Pacific Media Watch For the first time since dictator Ferdinand Marcos...
View ArticleAmidst coronavirus lockdown, biggest Philippines TV network goes off air
On Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post this week: The Filipino government has forced local television network ABS-CBN off the air. Plus, covid-19 is used as a cover to stifle voices of dissent in Hong Kong...
View ArticleMong Palatino: Cyber trolling targets opposition against Duterte’s Terror Bill
COMMENT: By Mong Palatino in Manila The proliferation of fake Facebook accounts in the Philippines is meant to derail the growing public opposition against the draconian Terror Bill. It is a crackdown...
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Maria Ressa found guilty in blow to Philippines’ press freedom
By Ted Regencia in Manila A court in the Philippines has found Rappler chief executive and executive editor Maria Ressa, and a former Rappler reporter, Reynaldo Santos Jr, guilty of cyber libel, in a...
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A Thousand Cuts wins best global feature at NZ’s Doc Edge festival
By Rappler A Thousand Cuts, Ramona Diaz’s documentary on democracy and press freedom in the Philippines, has won the top prize at the 2020 Doc Edge Festival in New Zealand. The winning films and...
View Article‘Fight not over’, says Robredo pushing for safeguards in anti-terror law
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Days after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Philippines Anti-Terrorism Law, Vice-President Leni Robredo has pushed for safeguards so that the controversial measure...
View ArticleDuterte’s congressional supporters seal Philippine TV network’s fate
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a...
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Bishops slam draconian security laws in Philippines, Hong Kong
By Nikko Dizon and Paterno R Esmaquel II in Manila Filipinos and the people of Hong Kong are both in need of prayers over recently-passed security laws that threaten to undermine their basic freedoms...
View ArticlePolice chief to Manila democracy protesters –‘Just do it online’
By Rambo Talabong in Manila Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Archie Gamboa has called on protesters preparing for rallies on President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2020 State of the Nation Address...
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Duterte again calls for return of death penalty by lethal injection
By Pia Ranada in Manila Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, for the third time, used his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to call on Congress to reinstate the death penalty for violators of the...
View ArticleFor this Filipina journalist, every day is a battle with fear – and defying...
Women journalists, feminists, activists, and human rights defenders around the world are facing virtual harassment. In this series, global civil society alliance CIVICUS highlights the gendered nature...
View ArticleDuterte threatens to jail Filipinos who refuse getting vaccinated
By Pia Ranada in Manila What is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s solution to vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos? Threaten them with jail time. Duterte, in a meeting with pandemic task force...
View ArticleNobel Peace laureates slam ‘Damocles’ sword’ threat to press freedom
Pacific Media Watch Despite its champions being honoured with a Nobel Peace Prize, press freedom has a “sword of Damocles” hanging over it, warn this year’s two laureates. Maria Ressa of the...
View ArticleMedia watchdogs slam 16 new legal complaints against Ressa, Rappler
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Ahead of national elections in the Philippines next month, the state has stepped up its attacks on Nobel Peave laureate Maria Ressa and the news outlet she leads, Rappler,...
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Bongbong politics: Rehabilitating the Philippines’ martial law Marcos family
ANALYSIS: By Binoy Kampmark Children should not pay for the sins of their parents. But in some cases, a healthy suspicion of the offspring is needed, notably when it comes to profiting off ill-gotten...
View ArticleDictator’s son Bongbong Marcos Jr leads partial count in presidential race
Rappler With 84.39 percent of precincts already accounted for, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the heir and only son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was leading in the presidential...
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Making sense of the scary Philippines election – 10 seconds into the future?
COMMENTARY: By Keeara Ofren Many of you will know that I am Filipina. The past few days have been quite a journey following the Philippine elections, culminating with a frightening win of the...
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Filipino migrants call on NZ to halt military aid to Philippines over Marcos...
By David Robie Migrants and overseas Filipinos in Aotearoa New Zealand today called on the governments of both Australia and New Zealand to halt all military and security aid to the Philippines in...
View ArticleKilling as policy: Duterte’s bloody drug war that Marcos will inherit
By Jodesz Gavilan in Manila A birth of a child usually draws out changes from people. Parents, and even grandparents, recreate themselves in a bid to better address the demands of the new addition to...
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Duterte ‘institutionalised’ disinformation, paved the way for a Marcos victory
By Loreben Tuquero in Manila On social media, Ferdinand Marcos Jr needed to have all pieces in place to stage a Malacañang comeback: he had a network of propagandist assets, popular myths that...
View ArticleRappler ordered to shut down by Philippines government, says Ressa
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Nobel Peace Prize laureate and journalist Maria Ressa says that the Philippine government has ordered her news organisation Rappler to shut down, reports Axios. The online...
View ArticleStand with Rappler, defend press freedom in Philippines
EDITORIAL: By the Rappler team We will continue bringing you the news, holding the powerful to account for their actions and decisions, calling attention to government lapses that further disempower...
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Nobel laureate Maria Ressa calls for journalists to fight ‘Devil’s megaphone’
East-West Center Nobel Peace Prize laureate and press freedom champion Maria Ressa wasn’t intending to make breaking news when she planned her keynote address at the East-West Center’s 2022...
View ArticleAssassins gun down Philippine broadcaster outside home
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Radio broadcaster Federico “Ding” Gempesaw has been shot and killed in broad daylight in front of his home in Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, reports the...
View ArticlePhilippine court orders telco agency to ‘unblock’ Bulatlat media website
By Jairo Bolledo in Manila A Philippine court has granted alternative news site Bulatlat’s plea to temporarily unblock its website citing constitutional press freedom rights. In a decision on Thursday,...
View ArticleKeep Maria Ressa out of jail, #HoldTheLine tells Marcos
Pacific Media Watch The #HoldTheLine Coalition has urged President Marcos of the Philippines to end persecution of journalists and independent media by dropping all charges against Nobel Peace Prize...
View ArticleSuspected gunman in Philippine broadcaster’s killing surrenders
BenarNews Philippine police have announced the arrest of a suspect in the killing of a radio journalist who was known for criticising President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his immediate predecessor,...
View Article‘Today, facts win, truth wins, justice wins’, says Ressa over court victory
By Lian Buan in Manila The Philippines’ Court of Tax Appeals has acquitted Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC) of four charges of tax evasion that were filed in 2018 by...
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China railway for Davao dream dashed as Marcos tilts towards the US
By Kalinga Seneviratne in Davao, Philippines After being elected to the presidency in a landslide vote in June 2016, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte visited China in October and declared that...
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Philippine court strikes down order to shut online news site Rappler
By Gerard Carreon in Manila An appeals court has struck down a 2018 government order that sought to shut down Rappler, an online Philippine news site celebrated for its critical coverage of former...
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‘In my early days, I was reckless,’ says Pultizer winner Manny Mogato
By Ria de Borja in Manila For 30 years, Filipino journalist Manny “Bok” Mogato covered the police and defence rounds, and everything from politics to foreign relations, sports, and entertainment,...
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Drug war victims’ families celebrate Duterte’s arrest, vow to keep fighting
By Jodesz Gavilan in Manila Paolo* was just 15 years old when he witnessed the Philippine National Police (PNP) mercilessly kill his father in 2016. Nearly nine years later, the scales are shifting as...
View ArticleNZ Filipino group praises arrest of Duterte over ‘fake drug war’ on poor
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand-based Filipino solidarity network has welcomed the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte by Interpol on charges of crimes against humanity on a warrant...
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Former Filipino president Duterte’s arrest by the ICC – 20 journalists killed...
Pacific Media Watch Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has recalled that 20 journalists were killed during the six-year Philippines presidency of Rodrigo Duterte,...
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Filipino activists praise arrest of ex-president Duterte as first step to end...
Asia Pacific Report Dozens of Filipinos and supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand came together in a Black Friday vigil and Rally for Justice in the heart of two cities tonight — Auckland and...
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