PCOO to hold Europe caravan on Ressa issue
MANILA, Philippines — Officials will hold a "press freedom caravan" in European countries to discuss media-related issues including the arrest of journalist Maria Ressa to counter claims that the Duterte administration is silencing its critics.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said some officials of his agency would meet with journalists in Belgium, Bosnia and Switzerland to answer their questions about the state of press freedom in the Philippines.
"Ngayon, nandoon din sila ngayon sa Brussels — Bosnia muna tapos Brussels, tapos Switzerland. So ito ay para naman kausapin iyong mga European media, for example, marami silang tanong about the press freedom sa Pilipinas (They are in Brussels — they will go to Bosnia first before Brussels — and then to Switzerland. They will talk to the European media because they have lots of questions about press freedom in the Philippines)," Andanar told state-run Radyo Pilipinas last Saturday.
"Eh dinadala natin iyong Press Freedom Caravan para maintindihan nila, para maliwanagan sila sa kaso ni Maria Ressa (We are bringing the press freedom caravan there so they can be enlightened about the case of Maria Ressa)," he added.
Andanar said Presidential Communications Undersecretaries Joel Egco and Lorraine Badoy and Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan would explain "the nature" of the case of Ressa and "why the Duterte administration had nothing to do with it."
"It is clear that it is a case between a private individual, a private businessman in the name of Wilfredo Keng and Miss Ressa and Rappler," the Cabinet official said.
"You are not above the law. So you are given all of the leeway and you are given all of the legal remedies that you can get... But to say that this is against press freedom, and to say that it is an upfront to press freedom is a big mistake because it's not true," he added.
Ressa, the chief executive officer of news website Rappler, was arrested last Thursday over a cyber libel complaint filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng.