World press freedom: Phl slips to 149th

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Philippines slid to 149 in the 179-country World Press Freedom Index of the France-based Reporters Sans Frontiéres (RSF or Reporters Without Borders).

It was 147th in 2013 and 140th in 2011-2012 before sliding down to 156th in 2010 after the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

The Philippines was 122nd in 2009.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government acknowledges the slight decline in the Philippines’ ranking in the recent World Press Freedom Index.

“The government remains committed to protect the rights and welfare of journalists and workers in the media industry in general,” he said.

“Part of this continuing commitment is to continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that justice will be served to the families of the journalists who are victims of violence in the performance of their duties.”

Coloma said the government is committed to pursue and prosecute assailants of slain journalists to obtain justice for those killed in the practice of their profession.

“We will continue to ensure that there are no prior restraints to the exercise of press freedom,” he said.

“This is in keeping with the spirit of EDSA People Power as we commemorate this month the 28th anniversary of the struggle that ensured the triumph of democracy over dictatorship and martial rule.”

The RSF yearly press freedom barometer conducted since 2002 sees major declines in media freedom in varied countries like the US, Central African Republic and Guatemala.

Marked improvements were recorded in Ecuador, Bolivia and South Africa.

Finland, the Netherlands and Norway head the index again this year, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea continue to be the biggest information black holes.

Christophe Deloire, RSF secretary-general, said: “The World Press Freedom Index is a reference tool based on the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure.”

The RSF said the Index “makes governments face their responsibilities by providing civil society with an objective measure, and provides international bodies with a good governance indicator to guide their decisions.”

In a report, Luci Morillon, RSF research head, said the ranking of some countries this year, including democracies, has been impacted by an overly broad and abusive interpretation of the concept of national security protection.

“The index also reflects the negative impact of armed conflicts on freedom of information and its actors,” she said.

The world’s most dangerous country for journalists, Syria, is ranked 177th out of 180 countries.

The RSF said the index’s annual global indicator, which measures the overall level of violations of freedom of information in 180 countries year by year, has risen slightly.

The indicator has gone from 3395 to 3456 points, a 1.8 percent rise.

The level of violations is unchanged in the Asia-Pacific region, but has increased in Africa.

This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than the 179 countries covered last year. The newcomer is Belize, which has been ranked in the enviable position of 29th.

The RSF said the 2014 index stresses the negative correlation between armed conflicts and freedom of information.

“In an unstable environment, the media become strategic goals or targets for groups or individuals trying to control news and information in violation of the guarantees enshrined in international conventions,” the RSF said.

Troubled Syria (177th) is rubbing shoulders with the last three countries in the index where 130 professional and citizen-journalists were killed while gathering news and information from March 2011 to December 2013.

Continuing its fall, Mali in Africa is now ranked 122nd, while the Central African Republic (109th) followed suit, falling 43 places.

In Egypt (159th), the military’s ouster of President Morsi freed the media that the Muslim Brotherhood had gagged since coming to power.

However, the coup marked the start of a witch-hunt against journalists suspected of supporting the Brotherhood, the RSF said.

In countries where the rule of law prevails, security arguments are misused as grounds for restricting freedom of information.

The RSF cited the US (46th), sliding 13 places this year because “the hunt for leaks and whistle-blowers serves as a warning to those thinking of satisfying a public interest need for information about the imperial prerogatives assumed by the world’s leading power.”

The United Kingdom (33rd) slid three notches below, “distinguishing itself by its harassment of The Guardian.”

The RSF gave many examples of governments abusing the “fight against terrorism,” citing Turkey (154th) where dozens of journalists have been detained on this pretext, particularly those who cover the Kurdish issue.

In Israel (96th), which regained some of the places lost in the previous index because of Operation Pillar of Defence’s impact on freedom of information, the territorial integrity imperative often suppresses freedom of information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In Sri Lanka (165th), also sliding two notches, the army shapes the news by suppressing accounts that stray too far from the official vision of “pacification” in the former Tamil separatist strongholds. – Artemio Dumlao (The Philippine Star) with Aurea Calica