President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
—MALACAÑANG PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday said the country needs a “critical” press, in contrast to his father’s rule when media crackdown was enforced.
Marcos made the remark during his attendance to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) held at the Manila Hotel.
It’s the first time in nine years that a Filipino chief executive attended the Focap’s annual presidential forum as former president Rodrigo Duterte skipped the same event during his entire presidency.
“Unlike many of my predecessors, I do not seek collaboration, for that implies a surrender of your Independence,” Marcos said in his speech.
“I am of the opinion that national interest is better served by a press that is critical rather than a press that is cooperative,” he added.
Marcos also said that “the President’s role is to defend press freedom, and not lead in destroying it or demeaning its practitioners.”
He noted that his late father, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., started the tradition and was the first Philippine chief executive to attend the Focap event 50 years ago.
READ: Marcos’ martial law: Golden age for corruption, abuses
Marcos Sr. declared martial law on Sept. 23, 1972, which saw the arrest, imprisonment, and disappearance of journalists, while the military took over privately owned media companies.
But Marcos Jr., in a March interview with Australian media company ABC News, said he has no impulses to authoritarianism.