Press freedom remains alive and well in the country, Malacañang said in trying to dispel a report that tagged President Duterte as among the so-called press freedom predators.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque defended the President's record on dealing with journalists, insisting he has not filed any case against a member of the press while in office.
"Absolutely bereft of merit," Roque said during a televised press briefing Tuesday, July 6, after a global watchdog included Duterte in the list of press freedom predators.
"Kung titingnan ninyo po iyong findings ng ICC prosecutor, lahat po ng kinu-quote niya eh media na critical sa gobyerno (if you see the findings of the ICC prosecutor, she quoted the media critical of government so that) so that proves po that freedom of the press is alive and well in the Philippines," he said.
"Wala po ni isang kasong libelong sinampa ang Presidente, wala pong kahit sinong mamamahayag na napakulong ang Presidente (The President did not file a single libel case. The President did not send any journalist to jail)," he added.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders recently released a list of 37 government leaders "who crack down massively on press freedom. The media watchdog claimed that Duterte has an "arsenal" in the "total war" against journalists, that included tax evasion and defamation suits, revocation of broadcast licenses, and use of internet trolls to harass journalists.
Roque also addressed the issues related to ABS-CBN network and Rappler. In the case of the Lopez-owned broadcast network, he said Congress decided not to renew the franchise of the station. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked Rappler's incorporation papers over alleged violation of the foreign equity restriction.
"At iyong mga issues na binabato nila kay Presidente – ABS-CBN, iyan po ay desisyon ng Kongreso at ang Rappler naman po ay sinabing lumabag sa Saligang Batas ng SEC na lahat po ay appointed pa ni dating Presidente Aquino (On the issues thrown at the President, ABS-CBN issue was a decision by Congress while Rappler was alleged to have violated the Constitution by SEC whose officials were appointed by former President Aquino)," he said.
"That’s part and parcel of course of the media groups advocacy to promote freer press pero wala po talagang basehan na media predator ang ating Presidente (but there is no basis that our President is a media predator)," he added.