The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has denounced the reported confiscation of the personal belongings of a photojournalist while he was covering a land dispute in Silang, Cavite last April 20.
Citing a report from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the CHR said that photojournalist Jose Monsieur Santos, who is also a member of the Filipino Freelance Journalists' Guild, was covering a land dispute when private guards fenced off the area.
When the encounter with the residents escalated, a confrontation ensued and personal properties were confiscated, including Santos' equipment.
While Santos conveyed to the security agency that he is part of the media, his belongings were still taken and they have yet to be returned.
"The Commission urges the immediate return of Santos’ belongings," the CHR said in a statement. "Acts which directly impede upon the media workers’ ability to efficiently carry out their duties to deliver the truth to the public, such as the confiscation of their media equipment, bring forth a critical implication to the free movement of information in a democratic society," it said.
The CHR reminded the government of its duty to safeguard the rights of every Filipino, including media workers. The Commission likewise reminded authorities, including security agencies, that they should uphold the freedom of the press.
"We emphasize that the confiscation of media equipment not only hampers every journalists’ freedom of speech, but also jeopardizes the very information that they are able to identify based on their data gathering process," the CHR said.
"Any attempt to further cultivate a culture of fear amongst journalists adversely impacts the safety of every media worker in the country and is an outright obstruction to the right of every Filipino to fact-based information," it also said.
It added tht it has deployed a Quick Response Operation to ascertain the details of the incident and conduct an investigation pursuant to its mandate and commitment to taking a more active stance in the protection of media workers.