The administration’s recent accusations about journalists is an attack on the media.
That’s what VERA Files founder and veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas said today after Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo alleged yesterday that she, several media companies, and other personalities are involved in a plot to oust and discredit the president.
Tordesillas, along with other veteran Filipino journalists, founded VERA Files in 2008, a non-profit media organization that has written about extrajudicial killings, election-related violence, and the state of local media under the Duterte presidency, among others.
In an interview on the show The Source on CNN Philippines, Tordesillas said she found the accusation laughable but still worrying.
“My worry is, by naming us, they are exposing us to danger. I think it’s irresponsible on the part of Panelo,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Panelo yesterday showed another diagram which supposedly shows that members of the Liberal Party (LP), Magdalo Party-List, and media organizations are working together to allegedly discredit and oust Duterte. He alleged that they are doing it also to boost the candidacies of LP’s senatorial lineup.
The information regarding this alleged plot was given to Duterte by “many sources,” whom Panelo didn’t identify.
“I’m with the media. The fact that VERA Files is being targeted, so we can only surmise that they must be targeting the media,” Tordesillas said.
“Why are they targeting the media? In VERA Files we pursue independent journalism, we demand accountability from those in power, we also try to promote accuracy in journalism. When you do these things, someone will get hit. If you hit those who are in power, for me, that’s the job of a journalist. Maybe that’s why Malacañang is not so happy with the kind of reporting that we do. But then, that’s [what makes a] democracy. They should understand the role of media.”
She said Panelo’s accusation against her are lies. “I am a bit worried. I’m quite disturbed by the viciousness and incompetence of this so-called operation — if this is really an operation. These are all lies. The persons who are doing this know that what they’re doing is not true. Why the viciousness? You have to be bad to be able to do these things.”
Other than Tordesillas, Panelo also alleged that news website Rappler, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, ABS-CBN journalist Inday Espina-Varona, and television host Gretchen Ho are involved in the plot.
There were also other people named whom Panelo said are known supporters of the LP. Even Hidylyn Diaz, an Olympic medallist, was even linked to the plot.
Tordesillas said that she has treated personalities fairly in her work as a journalist.
“I’m a journalist, my job is not to purposely discredit anybody … I think I have been a responsible journalist. To oust Duterte — that’s not my job. They’re saying the oust Duterte movement is crazy because journalists do not join destab[ilization] efforts. We monitor [them]. We report on destab[ilization] efforts…we don’t join them.”
She’s not sure if Duterte has an ax to grind against her, but she said VERA often fact-checks his statements which she says contain numerous falsehoods. In fact, in 2018, Duterte was their most fact-checked figure.
“The president loves to talk using unverified information. When we track it, he says a lot of falsehoods. There is one speech where, my god, there were eight falsehoods. And that’s worrisome because as president, he bases his policies on information that he has,” she said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization, has said that they are “extremely concerned” by the threats faced by Filipino journalists.
Two cases which they cited as threats were the legal woes faced by Rappler and its executive editor Maria Ressa and the possibility that the government would not renew media conglomerate ABS-CBN’s license once it expires next year.
Reader Interactions