MEDIA PROTECTION. Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia (2nd from left) and Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director, Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez (3rd from left), sign a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday (July 23, 2024). The agreement aims to ensure the safety and respect for the rights of the members of the press covering the elections. (Photo from PTFoMS)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to ensure the safety and respect for the rights of the members of the press covering the elections.
Signing the MOA on behalf of the commission was Chairman George Erwin Garcia and for PTFoMS, executive director, Undersecretary Paul M. Gutierrez.
“This MOA is part of the continuing effort by the Marcos government to create a safe media environment for members of the press all over the country, especially during elections,” Gutierrez said, recalling President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s instruction for the PTFoMS to work for a safer media environment for everyone.
The MOA is the first of its kind between the Comelec, an independent constitutional body, and the PTFoMS, the government’s mechanism to address all violations on the right to life, liberty, and security of all members of the press, since the latter’s creation under Administrative Order No. 1 in 2016.
It recognizes the important role of the press in scrupulously reporting and interpreting the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis.
The agreement also seeks to provide media practitioners with a safe and protected space, free from any unnecessary interference to perform their duty to report truthful election-related news.
Among others, the MOA seeks to consider any act of threat, harassment, illegal detention, torture, or physical violence to any member of the press a violation of the media’s role under the Fair Election Act or Republic Act 9006, the Omnibus Election Code, or the Revised Penal Code, as the case may be.
Garcia, meanwhile, said he agrees with the MOA, considering that poll workers also suffer from the same level of threats, harassment, and loss of life being experienced by journalists during elections.
“Ang dinaranas ninyo (journalists) tuwing eleksyon ay dinaranas din ng aming mga tauhan, partikular yung mga nasa field (What you [journalists] suffer during elections is also suffered by our staff, especially those in the field),” Garcia said.
He repeatedly emphasized the important role played by the media in achieving the poll body’s mandate of conducting a clean, credible, free, honest, and orderly election.
Both officials said the provisions of the MOA take effect this October, the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs), and last until the end of the election period, or until June 11, 2025.
While violent incidents cannot be prevented, especially during elections, they expressed hope that the MOA would deter those contemplating harming members of the media from doing so, particularly among the candidates and their supporters.
Any media practitioner whose rights are violated during the covered period must report the incident immediately to the PTFoMS, which will immediately coordinate with the Comelec on the appropriate measures to be taken to address the incident.
The PTFoMS will also be responsible for attesting that the victim is a legitimate member of the press and assisting the victim in filing a formal complaint before the poll body. (PR)
