NUJP: Palace ban on Rappler reporter shows 'extreme pettiness'

MANILA, Philippines – The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte was like "a petulant child" for banning Rappler reporter Pia Ranada from Malacañang premises.

 

NUJP said Duterte displayed "extreme pettiness" for doing so. 

 

"Shame on President Rodrigo Duterte for displaying extreme pettiness in ordering Rappler reporter Pia Ranada banned from entering Malacañang Palace a day after his fair-haired boy, Special Assistant to the President Christopher 'Bong' Go, accused the news outfit and the Philippine Daily Inquirer of producing 'fake news' about his alleged involvement in the controversial frigate acquisition deal and deigned suggest they report about 'good things'," NUJP said in a statement.

 

Rappler and Inquirer have said in separate statements that the stories were based on documents obtained from sources. The authenticity of the documents have not been questioned. 

 

The NUJP said Duterte’s hostility to the media no longer surprises them.

 

In a televised phone interview, NUJP president Nonoy Espina said the group is appalled by the pettiness of it all. He said it is more worrying how far "Duterte is willing to go to silence criticism."

 

"The depth to which he can stoop to unleash the awesome power of his office against individuals with whom he disagrees is, to say the least, appalling and extremely unbecoming of his office. He has acted much like petulant child throwing a fit," the NUJP said.

 

"More disturbing, however, is that Duterte’s peevishness displays a sinister side of his persona that does not bode well at all for the already uncertain health and future of democracy in our benighted country," it added.

 

The NUJP issued the statement after Ranada, who is also a member of the Malacañang Press Corps, was barred from entering the Palace grounds early Tuesday.

 

The Presidential Security Group said the order was issued by an official in "operations."

 

Rappler, however, reported that the head of Malacañang's Internal House Affairs Office, Jhopee Avanceña, said it was Duterte who instructed them to keep Ranada out. 

 

A GMA News report also said Avanceña mentioned Rappler chief Maria Ressa is also banned from Malacañang.

Meanwhile, reports also quoted Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra as saying Rappler's accreditation from the MPC has already expired barring a temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals.

 

This statement came after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. earlier said Rappler is still allowed to cover press briefings until its petition with the Court of Appeals on a Securities and Exchange Commission order to revoke its corporate registration is resolved.

 

Ranada was also barred from covering the oath-taking of officials of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., one of Duterte's scheduled events on Tuesday.

 

The group said the president’s move is “anathema to democracy.”

 

Roque however, said the government is not planning to curtail press freedom.

Despite the recent orders, the NUJP said it is optimistic that Filipino journalists will not allow outright assault on press freedom.

 

"We call on all colleagues to unite and reject this outrage and to continue resisting all attempts to dictate what we can and should report," the NUJP said in its statement.

 

"We owe this to our profession, we owe this to the people, we owe this to the nation," it also said.

 

As of this post, the Malacañang Press Corps has yet to issue a statement on the issue.

 

The National Press Club has said it supports the SEC in its decision to revoke Rappler's articles of incorporation. 

 

"In the broader Philippine media industry, Rappler is just one among the thousands of media entities in the country and whose operations have remained free," the press club said in January.

 

National Press Club president Paul Gutierrez noted in the club statement that "to say that the fate of one media entity found to have run afoul with the law translates to media repression in the country is stretching the argument a bit too much."

 

He said "responsible journalism also means complying with the law."