Philippines falls in World Press Freedom Index

By Sean Rafio

The Philippines has dropped two places to rank 134th out of 180 countries in this year’s World Press Freedom Index, as published on Friday, May 3, World Press Freedom Day.

Despite the 1987 Constitution supporting freedom of the press, Philippine laws “do not protect journalistic freedom in practice,” according to the annual report.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) recorded 135 incidents of attacks and threats against journalists from July 2022 to April 2024.

This number exceeds the incidents reported during the first 22 months of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Reported harassment included 75 cases of intimidation, featuring 45 instances of red-tagging and 19 cases of surveillance. Legal confrontations were also noted, including eight charges of libel and cyber libel.

Three journalists, Rey Blanco, Percy Lapid, and Cresencio Bundoquin, were killed during this period. In 2023, under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first year in office, the Philippines achieved its highest press freedom ranking in six years.

The Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) annual index highlighted that media outlets in the Philippines continued to face digital harassment, such as DDoS (distributed denial of service) and hacking attacks.

Additionally, the report emphasized that the overall press freedom situation in the Asia-Pacific region deteriorated in 2024, with “dictatorial governments tightening their hold” over news and information in their respective states.