Alternative media outfits Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly took the government to task before two special rapporteurs of the United Nations (UN), complaining of the repression they experienced during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The two news organizations separately wrote UN special rapporteur for human rights Mary Lawlor and special rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan as the government prepared to join a review of the rights situation in the country by UN Human Rights Council.
In a letter to Lawlor, dated Oct. 31, Bulatlat managing editor Ronalyn Olea complained of the government’s “attempt to tarnish our reputation, undermine our efforts at truth-telling in the face of massive disinformation and misinformation and muddle human rights issues in the Philippines.”
Olea described as “state-sponsored” a distributed denial of service attack on their website from May to June 2021 and blamed the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Army. “The incident has caused us stress and anxiety, knowing that the Philippine military is behind the cyberattacks,” Olea wrote.
Pinoy Weekly also submitted a letter reporting the attacks carried out against them that were allegedly carried out by the state.Another form of attack they reported was the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) order to internet service providers to block their website along with 26 other sites associated with activist groups.
Former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. asked the NTC to block the websites because of links of terrorist organizations.
Olea led Bulatlat officials in asking the court to dismiss the allegations against them and the court ordered the NTC to unblock the websites.
“Our right to due process was patently violated,” Olea stressed. “The move is also illegal as there are no laws that allow government agencies to block any website.”
The two news organizations also complained of Red-tagging by Lorraine Badoy, a former spokesperson for the government’s anticommunist task force, at the television network owned by televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted by the US government on sex abuse and money laundering charges.
Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly had sued Badoy over her remarks. Badoy herself is facing contempt charges before the Supreme Court for threatening a judge. INQ
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