“I believe the president chose me to lead the (Presidential Task Force on Media Safety) to reveal the truth and really protect media workers,” Joe Torres told host Caloy Conde.

MANILA, Philippines – Journalist Caloy Condé, in his podcast posted on YouTube, Sunday, November 17, spoke with fellow journalist Joe Torres, the new head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Safety (PTFOMS), about his promise to change the agency by truly fulfilling its mission of protect journalists.

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Chief among these changes is an end to his predecessors’ practice of labeling journalists or associating critical media outlets with communist insurgents seeking to overthrow the government.

Torres said he felt “quite nervous and challenged” about the new position and carrying out the tasks President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave him. “There will certainly be no red-tagging, there will be no labeling,” he added.

Marcos asked the PTFOMS to “engage, coordinate and work closely with the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas, the National Press Club of the Philippines and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.”

Torres promised to cooperate with these organizations to guarantee the well-being of journalists. He also said the president had been “very specific” in focusing on local media outlets that were in danger due to political issues. The president wants PTFOMS to work directly with local media.

He also said he hoped to have a dialogue “between the media and, for example, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Activities or FNT-ELCAC and the security sector so that “all issues that have been mentioned in the past (would be) erased.

“And the challenge, of course, is to really listen to the media, to talk with them about their needs,” Torres said. But he also acknowledged the limitations of the PTFOMS given that it is only a task force co-chaired by the Justice Department tasked with monitoring and assisting in cases involving journalists.

The PTFOMS, led by Torres, hopes to expedite cases, particularly those involving threats and killings, by working closely with the Department of Justice, as the task force itself does not have “power to pursuit,” Torres said.

Torres said the task force’s mandate is to “examine issues related to media safety, press freedom and media security, and of course, social welfare.”

Among the concrete changes Torres is investigating is redefining when the murder of a journalist is considered a “closed case.” Current practice defines a case as closed when a suspect has been identified, even if said suspect has not yet been prosecuted, charged, or convicted.

Torres explained: “I really want to clarify these things. I know that the police, when they identify suspects, say the case is closed or solved.

“But there should be some clarification. There should be a definition of what “closed” or “resolved” means.

Financial realities, ending impunity

Another issue mentioned concerns funding for media organizations, particularly in provinces or smaller communities where local politicians are able to provide funding. Torres said on the matter: “I think all media organizations, and even the government, would really emphasize training, workshops, to be fair, maybe not balanced, but to be fair in our journalism , to be ethical. »

“….I believe the President chose me to lead the PTFOMS to reveal the truth, to truly protect media workers and to work to be honest about what is really happening. We can only talk about press freedom if there is no threat or if there is no fear among media professionals.”

But given the difficult circumstances, Torres said, “We don’t want to blame the media for this lack of economic or financial activity,” which would lead local politicians to fund the media.

On the other hand, Condé pointed out that local politicians could be trained not to be so “outspoken” in the face of critical media and not to resort to violence. He explained how politicians resort to violence because they have been able to do so with impunity, and this is the challenge of the PTFOMS.

Condé said: “I think, from my perspective as a human rights defender, ending impunity is really, really – and should be – a top priority. I mean, we all agree that people who escape murder, I mean, whether they’re journalists or activists, that’s the reason why… there are murders that are going to be committed because of this impunity, right?

“We have a whole host of laws (including cyber libel laws) that we really need to look at and revise. And there is no reason for the offended party to attack and kill journalists because of their opinions.”

Although Torres was appointed to the position by the president, he had not yet been sworn in as of the podcast’s release. – Rappler.com