// Media education
Improvements noted
On Feb. 2, 2012—Malacañang has for the first time forwarded a draft Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to the House of Representatives for discussion and possible enactment.
It has been 19 years since the first FOI bill was filed in the House of Representatives. Advocates had expected President Benigno S. Aquino III to make FOI a priority legislation because he had pledged during the 2010 campaign that he would support public access to information.
// Press Freedom
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A village councilor allegedly threatened a TV news crew in Cagayan de Oro City last 1 February 2012. The village councilor denied the allegation.
// Ethics
It has been seven days since the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona started.
Since Jan. 16, CMFR has been asking online media users their thoughts on the press coverage of the impeachment trial. CMFR has also asked their opinion on the role of the press in the issue.
So far, these are some of the concerns raised on the press and its coverage.
// Training
PCIJ Training on SALNPCIJ will conduct another briefing on January 27. Go to http://pcij.org/blog/2012/01/13/do-the-saln-salsa-with-pcij to know more.
// Impunity
Publisher killed in Bohol provinceCMFR/PHILIPPINES – NO SUSPECT has been identified in the 15 December 2011 killing of a local newspaper publisher in Trinidad City, Bohol province. Bohol is a province 640 kilometers south of Manila.
// Statements
The Persistence of Impunity:A Bad Start for the New YearStatement of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ)
on the killing of Christopher “Cris” Guarin
THE KILLING of General Santos newspaper publisher and RMN blocktimer Christopher Guarin hardly a week since the new year began is one more indication of the persistence of the culture of impunity that encourages the killing of journalists and media workers in the Philippines.
