Pagbuo ng Presidential Commission For Media Security, hirit ng NPC kay BBM

Humirit ang pamunuan ng National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) kay President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. nang pagbuo ng Presidential Commission For Media Security bilang pagpapalakas sa kasalukuyang Presidential Task Force na nangangalaga sa seguridad ng working press na itinatag naman ng kasalukuyang Duterte administration.

Ayon kay NPC President Lydia Bueno,base sa kanilang Special Resolution No. 1, series of 2022, mariin nilang hiniling sa papasok na Marcos administration na patuloy na suportahan ang operasyon ng Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) na kasalukuyang pinamumunuan ni Undersecretary Joel Egco.

Ayon kay Bueno, ang PTFoMS ay binuo ng Office of the President taong 2016 makaraang maluklok sa poder ang Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Layon nito na bigyan ng proteksyon ang mga kasapi ng media sa pagtupad nito ng kanilang tungkulin.

Base sa press release ng NPC, hinihiling nila sa incoming Marcos administration na di lamang ipagpatuloy ng gobyerno ang pagbibigay ng proteksyon at malasakit sa “working press” sa ilalim na pagtataguyod ng tanggapan ng PTFoMS kundi bagkus palakasin pa ito sa pamamagitan ng pagtatatag ng tinaguriang Presidential Commission For Media Security.

Ang hakbang na ito ayon pa kay NPC President Bueno ay indikasyon na mapapangalagaan ng estado ang mga kasapi ng media sa pagtupad ng mga ito kanilang masalimuot at delikado propesyon.

Basahin po natin ang kabuuan ng nasabing news release:

“The National Press Club of the Philippines has passed a special resolution calling on the incoming Marcos administration to continue supporting the operation of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS).

“As one of the national media organizations actively engaged as media-partner and stakeholder of the task force since its creation by President Duterte in 2016, we have seen how effective the task force has been in fulfilling its mandate of giving protection to the life, liberty and safety of all media workers,” NPC president Lydia Bueno said in a news release on Friday.

“We believe its continuation under the Marcos administration would send the strong message to the world that it is just as committed, if not more, in upholding a free and responsible press that was started by the Duterte administration,” she added.

Under Special Resolution No. 1, series of 2022, the NPC noted that since the creation of the PTFoMS in October 2016, media workers have relied on the task force as their direct line to the Office of the President for prompt action on their concerns.

Bueno also noted that despite its limited resources as an ad-hoc body, the task force has made significant impact in the country’s media landscape and it is now also the repository of the most authoritative and documented reports on all cases of media-related violence in the country.

In the May 9 elections, Bueno noted that through the joint effort of the task force, its media partners and other government agencies, not a single media-related violence was recorded by the Philippine National Police.

“The lack of media-related violence in the May 9 national and local elections is not only a testament to the success of the task force but it is also a first in the history of our elections and something that we should all be proud of,” Bueno added.

The NPC urged President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to consider strengthening the task force further by issuing an executive order converting it into a Presidential commission for media security that will “broaden its power in effectively addressing all concerns related to the country’s media sector”.

The NPC endorsed PTFoMS Executive Director, Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, as chair of the proposed body.

Egco is also a former NPC president.

“We are confident that Undersecretary Egco would be able to fulfill the new President’s instructions and expectations when it comes to the safety and well-being of all members of the press,” Bueno added”.

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